Paper Fans and Lavenders
by kitaoblaze
Summary: Sasuke is a normal teenager until a ghost comes from a forgotten past. will he cut off all ties or will something else bloom?
1. A new year part 1

_RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!_

Sasuke woke up spluttering and cursing. He sat up in bed abruptly and slapped the stupid alarm clock. He sighed then. What day was it?

It was Monday. Just great. And on top of that, he remembered, he had his first day of junior year of high school today. He threw the blanket off himself and stepped on the floor, tripped on something and managed not to fall, cursing all the while.

Uchiha Sasuke was 17 years old, a straight A student and star basketball player. He had raven hair and onyx eyes along with a tall, proud posture and pale skin. He was handsome, obviously, adored by everyone... Or more specifically adored by girls while admired by boys.

His older brother Uchiha Itachi was the CEO for the Uchiha Corp., which was owned by their father Fugaku Uchiha. Sasuke was also expected to work for Uchiha Corp. after graduation.

He dressed into his school uniform, after a shower, and grabbed his jacket and bag pack before walking out of his room for breakfast.

"Hello little brother."

Sasuke looked at the table to find his older brother smiling playfully at him. Sasuke did not smile or greet him in response. He looked around, seeing no one in the kitchen. Of course, his parents were gone for a business trip so he was alone with Itachi.

He poured himself some cereal.

"You know, it would make a nice change if you smile for once. This is a new school year after all." Itachi reminded him.

"Wow...I never noticed." Sasuke said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

Itachi, only Lord knew why, found this very funny and chuckled. Sasuke rolled his eyes and started to eat breakfast. Yes, he loved his brother, but he did not need this right now.

His mind wandered to his dream. He shut his eyes, trying to shut it out. He'd been having creepy dreams again.

"Something wrong?" Itachi asked, by the look on Sasuke's face "You look sorta constipated."

"It's nothing. I'll just go now." Sasuke said, getting up and grabbing his car keys.

"Don't you want to finish your breakfast? You might be unable to eat after today's events." Itachi smirked as if he knew something Sasuke didn't and it annoyed Sasuke. He stopped abruptly and faced his brother.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Oh...nothing."

Itachi smirked and Sasuke knew it was no use asking. He wondered if something was up.

"Have a great day!" Itachi cheered, just to annoy him as reached the door.

"I doubt it." Sasuke muttered under his breath, walking out the door. The weather looked stormy, as if it would rain hard later. Black clouds were already coming in the sky.

Sasuke pulled his dark blue convertible Mercedes from the garage and on to the road, while tossing his jacket and bag pack on the passenger seat. He played the radio for a good song, deciding on Overdose by Exo-K.

He drove his car on the road which led to Konoha High School, the most prestigious institute for sciences and Academics in Japan. It was a huge school with more classes for students then you could name. Sasuke was a junior student in homeroom 8 along with his idiot-so-called-best friend Naruto Uzumaki.

It took about 20 minutes for Sasuke to reach the school's parking lot. Uzumaki Naruto. The orange car, so bright it hurt Sasuke's eyes, could only be Naruto's. Sasuke turned off the car and got out with his things.

He decided not to pull on his jacket after all, because it had the name Sasuke Uchiha on the back, and Sasuke didn't want to attract more attention than he would get. The jacket was from Basketball, after all. He slung his bag pack over his shoulder along with the jacket and with the other hand in his pocket, walked into the school building.

Something told him he would hate this day.

Sasuke walked to his locker while the girls gave him love sick looks behind his back. He tried not to pay much attention. His fan girls were just so annoying.

"TEME!" yelled a loud voice behind him. Sasuke's eye brow twitched, which only happened when he was annoyed, as he recognized the voice as Naruto's.

"Could you be any louder Dobe?" he asked when Naruto had slung his arm across Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sure...but why?" Naruto asked, looking confused. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

"Anyway! Are you excited? This is our third year here! Can you believe it?" Naruto continued on.

"No, I can't." Sasuke said. Indeed he couldn't. He couldn't believe it was only the second year of hell hole, as he liked to call High School. Had it only been 3 years in this hell? It had felt like forever...

"I'm hoping this is the year Sakura-Chan decides to go out with me!" Naruto said, excitedly "She definitely looked at me when we met yesterday...I think we have a thing going on..."

Sasuke would laugh if he actually cared to listen. He just quickened his pace to his locker. The locker next to him was unoccupied. Despite all the girls begging for the locker, Principle Tsunade had refused to allot anyone that particular locker because of the fights that had broken out over it among girls.

Naruto's locker was 10 lockers down (Sasuke was thankful). He left to drop his books there and Sasuke opened his own locker. He exchanged some of the books there and decided to wait for Naruto to get back otherwise he would have to listen to him rant 20 hours about how Sasuke hadn't waited for him.

"Ohayo Sasuke-Kun" came a voice.

Sasuke looked to his right. Sakura Haruno, one of the girls from his group of friends, was standing there, blushing slightly. Her pink hair was slightly longer and her bangs were parted with a hair band. She wore the school uniform consisting of a white polo over a black skirt and socks.

"Ohayo." He said and then shutting his eyes again, pretending he was alone.

"Junior year, huh? Can you belie...?" she said, trying to start a conversation.

The rest of Sakura's sentence was drowned out by Naruto arriving and yelling "OHAYO SAKURA-CHAN!" earning him a punch from her when students stared at the three.

Sometimes, Sasuke wondered why he even hung out with these guys. He started walking towards homeroom. Naruto and Sakura were driving him crazy already with their stupid bickering.

He opened the door and saw a number of familiar students in the room, from his fresh man year here. Among the familiar faces were Ino the pretty blonde, Shikamaru the lazy genius, Choji the fatso (although he never dared to call him that), Shino the creep, Kiba the dog boy and Gaara the weirdo. They were all his friends though.

He walked up to a vacant desk and sat down. A lot of girls surrounded him and tried to sit next to him, making Naruto frown. "Seat's taken." Sasuke said, placing his bag on the other seat.

The girls protested and some produced tears. Sakura sighed and sensing it was no use, went to sit next to Ino, and started bickering almost at once.

"Is that pervert still our homeroom sensei?" Sasuke asked Naruto, who sat in front of him with a sleeping Shikamaru.

"Yeah." Naruto replied, looking at Sakura. Sasuke sighed and tried to ignore the multiple girls staring at him. The bell rang, indicating the start of school.

Kakashi, as usual was late. Sasuke looked at his watch and noted that he was a good 15 minutes late."Good morning everyone." He said.

"Good Morning sensei." Everyone chanted.

"You're late." Naruto said, accusingly.

"I got late while helping an old lady cross the road." Kakashi said in a monotone. Everyone scoffed. As if they would believe him.

"Welcome to your second year in Konoha High and blah blah...so there's this new chic...girl in our homeroom, please welcome her and whatever." Kakashi said and as if on cue someone entered the class room.

The first thing Sasuke noticed about the girl was her beautiful, captivating lavender eyes. She had long mid-night blue hair, tied in a high ponytail, opal lavender eyes and a pale skin. She had a beautiful smile. She had a developed body with curves, although Sasuke tried not to notice that.

Everyone was silent before the boys broke into a fit of whistling and smiling goofily. Everyone was looking at her but her eyes found Sasuke's.

Sasuke felt like he had seen her somewhere. Of course, he had encountered Hyugas before, so the eyes were familiar.

But her eyes were a little different than the usual Hyuga eyes, different from Hiashi Hyuga's eyes for instance, who was a business partner of his father. Her eyes were soft. Soothing. What the hell was he thinking?

Sasuke broke the eye contact and looked at their sensei.

"Can you introduce yourself?" Kakashi asked.

Hinata nodded.

"I am Hinata Hyuga..."

Author's Note: Yes, i do not own Naruto. If i did, SasuHina would have so much more moments and development.

so the story is Modern AU, you probably guessed as much, and Sasuke and the rest are in their junior year at school. i planned it to be the sophomore year but whatever. Please excuse any mistakes there were because i still do not have an editor. I'll update soon.

Arigato!


	2. A new year part 2

"I am Hinata Hyuga..."

Her eyes fell straight on Sasuke again, who did not react. He kept her gaze and kept his expression nonchalant. God knew why he had an instinct that she should blush now. She did not. She smiled at him softly and continued.

"...I am 17 years old. I recently moved back to Konoha from America. I like sweets and my hobby is pressing flowers...I hope we'll get along."

"Thank you Hinata-chan. Can you please take your seat next to Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

All the boys and girls were now looking at them. Girls, out of jealousy while boys also with annoyance. Hinata moved his bag and sat down on the chair next to him without trouble.

She looked at Sasuke and smiled this time. He could not say he returned the gesture. He just looked away from her.

"...As this is your third year here, I am thinking some of you know each other. But...this period you will spend learning more about your partner. And I hope you like your seats because this is how you will sit for the rest of the year." Kakashi said, going back to his book.

Everyone groaned and the girls shrieked. The boys sighed and looked enviously at Sasuke. That dude got all the hot girls. Sasuke stared back defiantly. It wasn't his fault Hyuga had been seated next to him.

"Hi Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked at her, his expression neutral. "Hn." He said, as a greeting.

"How are you?" she asked.

He still had a feeling he had seen her somewhere. What the hell was wrong with today?

"Have we met before?" he asked, annoyed slightly, at her friendliness. She seemed like another fan girl. What a drag. And what was worse? He was sounding like Shikamaru Nara.

If Sasuke didn't know any better, he would think she looked slightly crestfallen. Then, she recovered and said "I just moved back here. We probably haven't met before. Maybe you've seen me in Magazines or something."

Right. She was the Hyuga heiress so he must have seen her in magazines or something.

The noise in the class room grew as everyone started talking to their partners and Kakashi looked away from his book, annoyed.

"...I will take a quiz from you questioning your partner's information which I will authenticate. Get to work...silently."

Everyone got the hint and shut up. There were low murmurs now.

"So...Sasuke..."

He raised his eyes brow at her. She gave him an awkward smile. Determined to pass in the stupid quiz, Sasuke decided to ask her a few questions.

"You said you moved back here, when have you lived here before?"

She looked at him for a moment, as if studying him, before answering. "I was born in Konoha. We...my family had a business here, then we branched out in America and we left because of my mother's health issues."

"So you left when you were quite young." He deduced.

"Yes. I was 5. Almost 6."

"So what about you?" she asked when he did not say anything.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I'm 17. My father is the owner of Uchiha Corp. I've always lived in Konoha. I like tomatoes and that's about it."

She wrote that down in her notebook. Really? Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes. "What are your hobbies?" she asked.

"I play basketball."

"Friends?"

"None of your business." He said.

"Okay? Um...siblings?"

"Older brother."

Why did he even come to school today? He was already regretting it.

"So...is there anything you'd like to know about me?" she asked.

"I just heard your freaking introduction." He said, sighing. Was she dumb or something?

"So...um...should I be careful of the girls here?"

He raised his eye brow as a question. She pointed to the girls in the class staring at Hinata dangerously for talking to 'their' Sasuke-kun.

"Probably." He shrugged.

She laughed quietly and Sasuke just looked at her. Then, she probably realized Sasuke was not joking around with her and shut up, scooting a little away from him even in her seat.

Sasuke looked away. This class was a waste of time.

"So um...have you joined any clubs?"

"I'm in the basketball team and that's about it."

"I was thinking of joining the cheerleading squad here." she said, surprising him. Somehow, she did not strike him as the person who would stand out or draw attention to herself.

"What?" she asked, as he stared at her.

"Nothing. Join then. Why are you discussing this here?"

"No reason. You're just the first person I've encountered in this school." She said.

"You probably should ask Neji first." He said, smirking slightly.

"How do you know him?"

"He's in the basketball team. And the eyes. figured you were related."

"So you're not as dim as you seem."

He raised his eye brow at her. Did she actually call him dense?

"Yes, I called you dim because you're not much of a conversationalist?"

Sasuke smirked because she was not swooning over him like the usual girls. Maybe, just maybe, this year wouldn't be as bad as he was thinking.

"That's a nice watch. Where did you get it from?" she asked, smiling a little.

"It was a gift." Sasuke said, looking at his watch possessively. It had been a long while and he did not remember who gave it to him but his mother had handed him the watch when he was 12, telling him it was a gift from someone. He loved it dearly and cherished it.

"I see." She said and looked thoughtful before snapping out of it.

The rest of the lesson went okay. By the end of the lesson, everyone knew a little about their partners. As the bell rang, Hinata and Sasuke rose from their seats along with everyone else. She smiled at him and he gave her a bored look before being jumped by Naruto.

"Bastard! Have you seen the new girl? She's hot." He yelled.

Everyone looked at him and Sasuke fought the urge to kill him. "Idiot, I was sitting next to her, of course I saw her."

"You think you can introduce her to me?" Naruto said.

"Sorry Naru-tard, she's out of your league. She's the Hyuga Heiress." Sasuke smirked as Naruto deflated.

"She seems nice though. I should go talk to her myself." Naruto said, running a hand through his hair.

"Do whatever you want." Sasuke said and walked out of the class room. The next class was P.E. He went to the locker room to change.

He was just dying to attend the green suit clad sensei's class. Note the sarcasm. He sometimes wondered how he was even teaching here?

He walked out to the gym to see Naruto already there, talking to Kiba, another member of the basket ball team. Many students were entering the gym. Sasuke felt someone bump into him from behind.

"I'm so sorry."

He turned around to look at an apologetic Hinata. Damn. She looked so...amazing.

Sasuke immediately looked away for the fear of blushing and murmured that it was okay. Hinata apparently decided it was okay to walk with him and once again everyone was staring at them.

Mostly, the boys were staring at Hinata. She was wearing a tank top over shorts, their gym uniform. Sasuke's team waved him over.

"You should probably go over to Sakura and the others. They're cheerleaders too and you could join." He said, more to get rid of her than to advise her. She nodded and walked off to the girls.

Sasuke sighed as he joined the boys, yelling and calling. This was going to be a long, long day.

"Ne Sasuke, why do you always get the hot ones?" Kiba asked, looking towards the direction from which Sasuke had just arrived. The rest of the group also watched Hinata walk up to Sakura and Ino, smiling.

"Yeah, life is just unfair like that, eh?" Naruto asked.

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke said, not looking back to see Hinata even once. He didn't want his idiot friends to get any ideas.

"Hey, you can introduce us during lunch break." Kiba suggested, putting his arm around Sasuke's shoulder.

"Whatever."

Naruto and Kiba took that as agreement whereas Sasuke just wanted to get rid of them.

"So, Hinata...why did you move to America?" Ino asked, after they had been introduced to her.

"Well...my mother was sick and we had to move for her treatment." Hinata explained "Also because we were expanding our business there."

"The Hyuga heiress! It must be amazing, ne?" Sakura exclaimed, stars in her eyes.

"It has its perks." Hinata said, thoughtfully "But it's also a lot of work."

"It must be. So have you moved back alone?" Ino asked. Hinata shook her head.

"My father although trusting enough, would never allow that. I share the place with Neji." Hinata said.

"That hottie in senior year? One year our senior?" Sakura asked while Ino joined in saying "Long brown hair? Yeah, he's got eyes like yours."

"He's my cousin." Hinata said, smiling.

"Kyaaa! You're so lucky!" Sakura and Ino squealed. Hinata sweat dropped.

"Enough chatting my youthful students. I can see you're at the peak of your youth in your second year here."

Hinata turned towards the doors of the gym to see the source of the voice. It was a tall man in a green jumpsuit. He had very shiny white teeth, a bowl cut and thick eyebrows.

No, seriously. Just how thick were his eyebrows? Hinata looked at him with wonder.

"Bushy Brow sensei!" a blonde boy's voice rang through the gym.

"Naruto, you seem energetic as ever...I like it." The teacher flashed a blinding smile.

"He's Maito Gai, our gym teacher." Sakura whispered. "Does he..." Hinata started when Ino cut her off and said "Yeah he always wears that jumpsuit."

"And is he...?" Hinata began once again when Sakura cut her off this time "Yes, he is always this energetic and a little strange."

"Looks like we have a new student." Gai said, taking note of Hinata standing there.

Hinata nodded and stepped ahead. "I'm Hyuga Hinata. Nice to meet you."

"Hinata-sama, what a pretty name. of course it suits you." A few girls scowled while Ino thumped Hinata on the back at the compliment. "I am Maito Gai. Your teacher. In honor of Hyuga-sama here, we'll play the youthful game of basketball."

The girls groaned while the boys perked up hearing this. "Yay Hinata!" A brunette with messy hair yelled. Hinata smiled in his direction and also caught Sasuke's eye, who looked away from her.

Gai sensei told everyone to run 10 laps around the gym. Almost everyone groaned. After running the laps, he picked team leaders, namely Sasuke and the enthusiastic blonde boy, Naruto.

Naruto picked Sakura first thing, who scowled and reluctantly walked over to him. "I hope Sasuke-kun picks me." Ino said, sighing dreamily.

"Kiba." Sasuke said, disappointing all the girls except Hinata, who smiled, sensing how he acted around girls.

Hinata was eventually picked by Sasuke, who beat Naruto to it. She was one of the few girls on Sasuke's team. The other 2 girls were a girl called Tayuya and another girl called Shion, who like her were not fangirls. Naruto, however, got stuck with all the girls like Karin, Ino and Sakura.

The game began and Sasuke scored a point in the first minute, leaving Hinata wondering just how good was he. She didn't notice the ball being passed to Shikamaru, a boy with a ponytail and a lazy demeanor.

He sighed and tossed the ball to a surprised Hinata. She had never played basketball before and was still for a moment before noticing Karin, a red head with glasses run to try and snatch the ball from her. Hinata figured it was the best time to run so she could live, because Karin had seemed really angry when Sasuke had picked Hinata instead of her.

Hinata dribbled (tried to anyways) the ball towards the basket. The players of the other team now noticed her with the ball and made her way towards her.

A boy with orange hair tried to snatch the ball and suddenly he shoved her hard, by accident or on purpose, she was not sure. Hinata almost tripped and fell but managed to duck under his huge arms with the orange ball and run ahead, Karin still tailing her.

"Hyuga, pass the ball." She heard someone yell. She turned her head while running to see Sasuke behind her. She noticed the orange haired boy was on the floor now and Sasuke was smirking a little.

"Pass the fucking ball!" he repeated, somewhat irritated now. Hinata obeyed immediately and he ran ahead with the ball and they scored another basket. Just then, the buzzer went off and their team won from one basket.

"Damn this" Naruto said and swore under his breath.

"Team A wins. Good job guys. Team B, you will clean out the lockers after school."

Everyone on team B scowled while a shout erupted from Team A's members and most of them made their way towards Hinata.

"Good job Hinata." Hinata looked to her side and saw Tayuya smiling at her. Shion ran and patted Hinata on the arm too. The boys in their team smiled and cheered. Sasuke was also smirking a little and was being praised.

"When Juggo came to you, I was sure he'd get the ball." A boy with sharp teeth and white hair said, standing next to her.

"Just because she's new doesn't automatically mean she'll be bad at everything Suigetsu." Another boy with sunglasses on his eyes said quietly.

Hinata almost jumped and she knew the others felt the same because none of them had noticed him standing there. "Shino, stop scaring us like that. I'm gonna have a Myocardial episode because of you someday." Suigetsu grumbled.

"Anyways, nice job." The Shino boy praised Hinata and she smiled.

"It's not like you won an Olympic medal or something." Someone else spoke from nearby. Sasuke stood there, leaning against the wall, a slight smirk on his handsome features.

"She just saved us from cleaning out the lockers, can't you appreciate that?" Shion said.

Sasuke scoffed. "All she did was to pass the damn ball." Sasuke said, now looking at Hinata.

"I've never played basketball in my life before, so it's not my fault I was figuring out how to play the damn game instead of taking an active part."

"For a newbie, that was good. I didn't think you could take that push from Juggo thought. You look a lot more delicate." Suigetsu said, grinning.

"Yeah, you got him good Sasuke." Tayuya grinned too.

Sasuke smirked and looked away. "Whatever."

Juggo was still limping and Hinata figured Sasuke must have pushed him, to get back on him.

"Everyone get changed before the bell rings." Gai sensei announced. Hinata walked over to her bag and gulped down water from her bottle and then wiped her face with a towel.

She went to the locker room to change and saw Ino and Sakura.

"Hey guys." She said.

"Hi." They said darkly. "I'm sorry for...you know, the outcome of the game?" Hinata offered.

"It's okay, that's not your fault. Congratulations on your win." Ino said, smiling a little.

"Yeah, that was a nice one. And sorry for Juggo being a jerk. He gets angry sometimes." Sakura said.

They both left for showers and Hinata walked out of the gym. Almost everyone had changed and the bell had rung.

Hinata walked to her locker and took out her schedule. "Looks like I have economy next." She said to herself.

The corridors were empty and she wondered which way was economy classroom 6. "Feeling lost?" a voice came from behind her. She turned to see Uchiha Sasuke leaning against the locker next to hers, eyebrows raised.

"Sasuke." Hinata acknowledged.

"No Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke mocked.

"No honorifics for a jerk." Hinata said, sighing "That locker yours?". She started walking away after asking that.

Sasuke caught up with her. "I could help you, you know." Sasuke said, raising his eye brow.

"Wow, that's a lot of talking for you." She said. Sasuke nodded. "Fine, help me." She said.

She handed him her schedule and his face was unreadable. "Hello? You still there?" she asked, bending a little to look at his face, which was down.

Suddenly, he let go of her schedule and grabbed her wrists. He pinned her to the wall and looked into her eyes, his face showing slight annoyance.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, trying to push him away.

"I am sick and tired of fan girls, and now I have a stalker? What the hell is your deal, huh? Do you want to die?" he asked his face close to hers and his voice dangerous.

"What the fuck? Are you bipolar or something?" she asked, her eyes widening under his gaze and she vigorously tried to push him away.

"You have 6 classes the same as me. Don't think I'm fooled. Who are you? Who's paying you to stalk me? I will sue you for this." He said, angrily.

"Let me go you jerk." She said, finally pushing him away. He still stood close to her but a little away than before. "I'm not stalking you. It could be a coincidence if we share a few classes as far as I know." She said, picking up her schedule.

 _Hinata's schedule_

 _Classes Teacher_

1\. Literature _Hatake Kakashi_

2\. _P.E Maito Guy_

3\. _Economy Kakuzu_

4\. _Buisness Hidan_

5\. _Foreign languages Asuma Sarutobi_

6\. Lunch Break

7\. _Music Kurunei Yuhii_

8\. Drama _Deidara_

9\. _Free period_

10\. Sciences Uzumaki Nagato

Sasuke fished through his bag and shoved his schedule into her face. It was the same to her except that he had Politics with Uchiha Obito and Physics with Matirashi Anko instead of Foreign Languages and Music.

"I didn't know about your schedule." Hinata said, annoyed now. How dare he accuse her of being a stalker? As If she would stalk him...

"And how do you explain our similar subjects?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Great mind think alike. Either it's that or its stupid minds. And I'm not stupid. I don't know about you however." She said, putting her schedule in her bag and looking at him. "Listen you conceited idiot, I'm also the heiress to a billionaire company like you, its natural we study similar subjects because we're both going into similar fields."

She said this and turned away. Sasuke felt a little awkward now. He had jumped to a conclusion. She looked pretty pissed. He didn't even think she could be mad. He sighed. He'd known all along today would be a crappy day.

"Hyuga..." he tried.

"Don't talk to me. I'm not a mindless fan girl. I don't need to be your fan girl...because" she suddenly stopped herself and then said "I'll find the classroom."

Sasuke stepped out of Geology along with Shikarmaru, who was leaning on Sasuke, almost asleep. Well, he had been asleep but Sasuke had woke him up when the bell had rung and now he was leaning on Sasuke.

"Hey lazy-ass, wake up. It's lunch time." Sasuke said, nudging Shikamaru. He snored right on Sasuke's shoulder. If he was drooling Sasuke was so going to kick his ass.

"They walked to the cafeteria together. The whole basketball team was sitting on one table. Sasuke walked over to the table with Shikamaru and put his bag pack besides him on the floor.

"Hey Teme!" Naruto said, cheerfully.

"Hn." Sasuke said as he acknowledged everyone on the table with a nod. He noticed Hyuga Neji sitting on the other end of the table, next to Lee and Neji, two of the loudest people alive on the planet. Sasuke smirked from the expression on his face.

Others sitting with them were Choji (munching chips), Gaara, sipping water, looking at nothing in particular, Suigetsu who was talking to Juggo.

"Neji nii" a soft voice made Sasuke look up. It was Hinata.

"Hina" Neji's face lit up and he pushed Naruto away and stood up. He hugged his little cousin who smiled genuinely.

"How was your first day back?" she asked.

"It was...tolerable. How about you Hime?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the Hime part. He would have laughed. But being him, no way.

Hinata looked right at Sasuke this time, which made him look away. "It was fine."

"Oh, Let me introduce you to our basketball team." Neji said and Hinata nodded. Neji proceeded to introduce the team.

"I'm Hyuga Neji, the captain. (He smiled when Hinata laughed. She had a pretty laugh. What the hell was he thinking?). This is Naruto Uzumaki (Hey Hinata-chan), Kiba Inuzuka (Hey there), Subaku no Gaara (no reaction), Suigetsu, Juggo, Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, Rock Lee and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Nice to meet all of you." She said, smiling at them but avoiding Sasuke's gaze. Like he cared. "Ne Hinata-chan, we should eat together sometimes, ne?" Naruto said, grinning at her.

"Sure. We can eat lunch tomorrow." She said, smiling. Neji glared at Naruto which made him gulp. Kiba looked a little disappointed.

"Are you disappointed you didn't ask her before?" Suigetsu asked, teasing Kiba. Kiba glared at him.

"You know, Hinata, you should eat lunch here with us now. This could be your chance of knowing everyone." Neji said. Sasuke had a feeling he said that mostly to supervise the 'date' instead of making Kiba feel better.

"I have to get back to Sakura and Ino." Hinata said.

"Call them over too." Neji said.

"There's no place to sit." Hinata said, looking at the table which was full.

"It's okay. I'm sure some of us can leave." Neji said, glaring at everyone's direction. All of them remembered the ass kicking a boy named Yato had gotten for messing with Neji. Hastily, Suigetsu, Choji and Lee got up, dragging Juggo with them. Gaara also walked off, looking uninterested.

Hinata happily called over the two girls who were elated to have lunch with the guys. All the other girls looked at the three enviously.

"Hinata, beware of the crazy girls here." Neji said as Hinata slid in next to Naruto. "Nii-san, I know how to take care of myself." She said, smiling.

"Hey" Sakura and Ino said, reaching to sit next to Kiba and Sasuke. Luckily, Shikamaru was still sitting next to Sasuke and Naruto was on Sasuke's other side. The girls glared at the two boys and sat down next to Kiba.

"So, are you happy with the classes Uncle Hiashi picked out for you?" Sasuke stopped eating at Neji's question. Hinata shot him a look and turned to him and nodded.

"By the way, nice job in P.E Hinata. Even though you made my team lose." Naruto said, smiling brilliantly.

"That proves you should pick her early next time." Sakura said.

"I guess."

"We still have those lockers to clean after school." Kiba reminded them and Naruto, Sakura and Ino all groaned.

Fucked up...

That was the thought Sasuke had in mind when he walked towards his car after school was dismissed. The whole day had been fucked up. He never should've woken up from that dream.

And the whole situation with Hinata was just awkward. Speak of the devil...

She was standing there, with her bag on her shoulder and her hair flowing in the wind. She was waiting for Neji, probably. She suddenly looked at him and caught him looking at her. She turned away before he could.

What an unforgiving girl. Yes, he had been a little rude but that was just because he thought she was stalking him. What else was he supposed to think when she ended up as his partner in Literature (and Economy), kept bumping into him and had almost the same classes as him? Maybe he should apologize?

Nope. He would not apologize. She would eventually come around.

He walked to his car and threw his bag pack and packet on the front seat again. He turned up the radio and drove home.

He walked inside the house after reaching home to find his brother and his girl friend Izumi making out on the couch in the living room.

"Jesus..." He almost yelled as he turned away and covered his eyes. Perfect. As if he needed his day to get any better. Itachi and Izumi jumped apart.

"Oh...right, I forgot you have school from now." Itachi said sheepishly.

"Can you not do this on the fucking couch?" Sasuke asked as he threw his bag aside.

"Hi to you to Sasu" Izumi said, winking.

"Don't call me that." Sasuke said and looked accusingly at his older brother who had come up with the name in the first place.

"How was your first day back?" Itachi asked, ignoring his look.

"Fucking perfect." Sasuke said, sitting on the couch between them to prevent any more kissing and started flipping through the channels on the plasma screen.

"Why?" Izumi asked.

"First of all, that's none of your business. Second of all, there's this fucking new girl in my class and I fucked it up."

Itachi smirked. He knew Sasuke was super pissed and also very upset. He cursed lot when he was mad.

"Was this girl Hyuga Hinata?" Itachi asked.

"How the..." Sasuke said before remembering what Itachi had said before. "You knew..." he accused.

"Of course I did. Her father's our family friend." Itachi said, dodging the punch Sasuke threw.

"And naturally you couldn't warn me." Sasuke rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore them "How are you back so early anyways?"

"We...OH MY GOD ITACHI, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BACK 20 MINUTES AGO...!" Izumi screamed.

"Jesus, calm down woman." Sasuke said, covering his ears. Itachi slapped his forehead and ran outside to his car with Izumi.

"Bye" Sasuke said to himself and lay down on the couch, flipping channels again.

ʀY\9

Hinata sighed and leaned back in her chair. She was currently engaged in homework. It was only her first day and yet they had gotten so much homework. The teachers were brutal. The only homework left was literature. Knowing about your partner. When was the quiz again?

Did Hinata even need to work on that? He was famous. She could just look him up on a magazine or something. He would probably do the same. She decided to think about that homework later. She rubbed her eyes.

It was almost 8 and she was hungry. She thought of dinner. She was feeling way too lazy to cook anything right now. A knock on her door interrupted her.

"Hina?" called Neji's voice.

"Come in." she called out.

"Hey. You done with homework?" he asked her, smiling. Hinata smiled. Man, she loved him. She nodded. "Cool. I want you to come with me so we can get dinner."

"Alright. Let me change." She said. He nodded. "Be down in 15 minutes." She said and left for the bathroom.

She changed into jeans and a red tank top with a white sweater. She slipped on her sneakers and walked downstairs where Neji was watching television. He got up when he saw her and walked outside to his car.

Neji's car was a dark blue Maserati which he loved a lot. Probably more than he loved anyone else. Hinata hopped in and Neji drove outside the house while the guards closed the gates of the Hyuga Mansion.

"Did you call Uncle Hiashi?" Neji asked, turning the radio on.

"Not yet." Hinata said.

"Hina, he specifically told you to call him. He'll be worried." Neji reminded.

"I was doing homework. And he didn't bother to call me himself did he?" Hinata said, switching channels.

"He's a busy man." Neji said.

"Oh sure." She said, rolling her eyes. Neji smiled at her antics and ruffled her hair. "Hey!" she said, trying to do it to him.

"Hinata, we'll die in an accident if you don't stop doing that." Neji said, half scolding while half laughing. Hinata chuckled and stopped.

"Just wait till I learn how to drive my own car." She said.

"I'm sure you'll surprise us all with your hidden driving skills. But right now, what do you want to eat?" he asked her.

"Pizza?" she suggested. "Your choice." He said, shrugging.

"Pizza it is." She said. Neji began telling her about this new pizza place downtown being really good. She listened to him half heartedly while humming to the music.

She didn't realize when they reached the pizza place. "We're here." Neji announced.

They walked in and Hinata slid into a booth. Neji sat opposite to her and the waiter came to take their order. Hinata ordered a double cheese pizza for herself and Neji decided to go along.

"So who's your homeroom teacher?" Neji asked.

"Hatake Kakashi." Hinata replied, looking out the window of the pizza shop.

"The one who reads perverted books?" Neji asked, a little on edge.

Hinata nodded. "His face isn't hurting anybody though" she added, just to see Neji's reaction. As expected, his face darkened. Hinata laughed out. She knew Neji was very protective of her.

"Just kidding." She said, still laughing. Neji also smiled. Hinata stopped laughing after a minute and then added "No, seriously though."

The pizza arrived along with drinks and the cousins dug in. "I'll try to get done with basketball practice earlier on Saturday so I can show you around." Neji said.

"You have practice on Saturday?" Hinata asked. Neji nodded. Hinata looked forward to seeing the town with Neji. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Suddenly a dark haired Uchiha flashed into her mind. Besides that, she thought.

"Is everything alright at home Sasuke?"

"Yeah mom, everything is..." Sasuke was going to say fine when the fire alarm started ringing, indicating that his food was burning on the stove.

"What's that noise?" his mother inquired through the phone.

"Nothing." Sasuke said quickly, throwing water on the stove, which was burning "Its, uh, the television." He cursed himself mentally for even trying to cook. He knew he should have just ordered that pizza. However, something made him want to cook.

"And yes mom, everything is fine." Sasuke said, coughing and running into the living room because smoke was now rising from the kitchen now that the fire was out. Sasuke saw the maids run to the kitchen in alarm and knew they would take care of it.

"Good. Because we're coming home tomorrow. Your father's business trip was a success." She informed him happily.

"Woo-hoo." Sasuke said in a flat tone. Apparently his mother didn't catch the sarcasm because she chuckled at his 'enthusiasm'.

"So how was your first day back at school?" she asked.

"It was great. Apparently, I made a new friend." He said, rolling his eyes and dropping on the couch.

"Really?" she asked, and her tone proved she also knew about Hinata Hyuga coming to school.

"Admit it already. You knew Hyuga Hinata was coming to my damn school and no one told me." Sasuke said.

"I wanted it to be a happy surprise experience for you." She said.

"So much for that" Sasuke muttered.

"She's such a sweet girl." Mikoto said to herself and her son.

"I'll bet." Sasuke said.

"Anyways, I really have to go. I'll call you later. Bye." Mikoto said.

Sasuke didn't say goodbye and just threw his phone on the couch. Now, what was he going to eat? A pizza? Fine.

He was calling the pizza hut when he received a message from Naruto.

 _"Teme, we're getting together to hang out tonight, wanna join us?"_

Sasuke typed a reply at his fast pace.

 _"We? And it's a school night."_

Naruto sent a reply just as quick.

 _"Us guys. And yeah, we know, but it'll be fun."_

Sasuke didn't want to go. He had his homework to do.

" _I'll pass."_

Naruto sent him a picture of Naruto pouting in a way that had to be cute and Sasuke had a sudden urge to kill him or throw up. He called the pizza hut for a delivery and went to his room to start homework.

First day huh? As expected, it was a crappy day. Sasuke sighed and set to work.

Author notes: Hopefully, this will make up for my short chapter. Enjoy. Comment and review. They mean a lot. i would also like to know where i'm going with the story and what everyone thinks.


	3. A stormy encounter

A week had passed since the encounter between Hinata and Sasuke and they didn't talk much except for the necessary work. It was a slightly awkward atmosphere and Sasuke knew he was the only one to blame. But he would not apologize. Nope.

Today was Monday again. He was sleeping dreamlessly when his alarm clock rang. Sasuke slapped it shut and sat up in bed lazily. He looked outside the window. It was stormy outside. He had a sense of Déjà vu. Stormy weather...Monday morning...new girl...crappy day. He shook his head.

He showered and pulled on his uniform and jacket. His room was dimly lit and Sasuke's pale skin stood out. He looked in the mirror while combing his hair, which stood up anyways.

He gathered his notebooks and put them in his bag pack before walking out of his room. He walked downstairs into the kitchen.

"Sasuke, good morning." His mother's cheerful voice greeted him. He looked over to her and said a 'hn' in response.

"You can either talk normally or teach us this 'hn' language of yours so we can understand what you say half the time." Itachi said with amusement in his voice.

It was amusing to see his little brother going to school and looking like he was going to kill someone. Just the indication for a normal day. Fugaku looked over at Sasuke from his newspaper.

Sasuke said nothing as he slid in a chair and his mother served him breakfast. "Aw, why does my baby look so upset?" his mother asked.

Itachi and Fugaku suddenly chocked on their food trying to suppress laughter while Sasuke just looked embarrassed.

"I'm not upset mom. And I told you not to call me that. I'm 17 now." He said, accepting the food and glaring at his brother and father who gave him gleeful looks.

"You'll always be my baby, no matter how old you are." His mother said, ruffling his hair before going to get some coffee for his father.

"So my baby, why _do_ you look so upset?" Fugaku asked, earning a glare from Sasuke.

"This is just my face. Accept it already." Sasuke said, sighing and starting to eat.

"It's just hard to accept that someone as ugly as you could be born in the Uchiha. No offense to you guys of course." Itachi said, quickly glancing at his father who just shrugged.

"Shut up." Sasuke said. He wasn't offended or anything though. He knew he was more than handsome. His fan girls were more than enough proof of that. He knew he had a perfectly chiseled face and body. And he was a basketball star. He was popular and handsome enough.

Itachi wasn't any less handsome though. He had obsidian eyes just like Sasuke's and his jet black hair was tied in a ponytail and he wore a dark suit for his office attire. His eyes had that playfulness and he could be as serious as a heart attack when he wanted to be. You did not want to get on his bad side.

Sasuke finished with his meal. "I'm going to go to school now." He got out of his chair with his bag pack and was about to head out when he heard his mother.

"Sasuke! I made lunch for you." Sasuke stopped in his tracks. He loved his mother's cooking. And she rarely had time to make lunch for him anymore.

"Thanks mom." He said as he took the lunch and even gave her a lopsided grin. She hugged him, feeling affectionate and Sasuke could feel his father and brother smirk but whatever.

"No problem honey. Oh and a guest is going to have dinner with us next Friday so keep that in mind. I know you prefer me to tell you beforehand."

"Alright." He said, not really paying attention and walking out the door.

"Have a great day!" she called out as he got in his car.

Sasuke looked up at the stormy sky as he started the car and drove to school.

"Take care Neji. I'll be back soon."

He coughed as a response and she walked out of his room. Hinata swept away hair from her forehead. She decided to comb it again. She straightened her white uniform blouse and her skirt. She had just come out of Neji's room.

He had a fever and could not go to school. She had taken care of him all night and he was better now but Hinata had told him to rest. She had asked him if he needed her there with him but he said it was okay if she left for school.

He had been worried about how she would get to school but she told him she'd get there somehow. Neji was now a little drowsy and after putting food and medicine for him, she had decided to check on him before heading out to school.

She combed her hair into a ponytail and her bangs framed her face. She put on her shoes, grabbed her bag pack and cell phone and stepped out of the house. The sky was dark and she knew it would rain.

She drove to school and home with Neji but he was sick today and she didn't know how to drive. They also did not have a driver yet as her father decided he would be the one to appoint them a driver and apparently hadn't found anyone 'trust worthy' yet. Meaning he wanted someone who would report everything to him.

She sighed. There was half an hour until school began. The school was 12 kilometers from her house and she could not walk all the way. She would have to ask someone to drive her. Or she could take the subway. But getting to the station would take up so much of her time. She sighed. She looked at her cell phone.

She dialed Naruto's number. Naruto Uzumaki. She smiled at the thought of him. He was an amazing person. So bright and confident. She liked him. And he was a great friend to her already.

"Morning Hinata-chan!" his bright voice rang through her phone and she instantly put it at a distance from her ear.

"Hey Naruto-kun. Um...I actually wanted a favor." She said.

"Sure, go ahead." He said, there was a noise in the background.

"Neji's sick and I need a ride to school." She said.

"Oh. I'd love to give you a ride but I'm already pulling into the school parking. Are you still at home?" he asked.

"Yes." She answered.

"Hm...wait...the Hyuga apartments?" he asked.

"Uh-Huh." She said into the phone, slightly disappointed.

"Sasuke! He lives near there. The Uchiha compounds are just a few kilometers away, right? How about I tell him to pick you up?"

"Uh..." she weighted her options. She could either walk to school in possible rain or she could take a ride with the bipolar Uchiha. She sighed. The answer was really simple.

"I'll walk, thanks." She said.

"Hinata, it's a lot of distance. I'll ask Sasuke to give you a ride."

"I really don't think that's necessary." She said.

"I'll be worried for you otherwise. Sasuke's a bastard but he's nice. Sometimes. Anyways, he'll take care of you."

'He'll take care of me alright' Hinata thought. "No really, I'll get to school. Don't worry." She said.

"Fine if you don't want to come with Sasuke...do you want me to come and get you?" he asked.

That would really be a bother. "No...I'll manage."

"If you're not coming with Sasuke, I'm coming to get you." Naruto said, and the background was filled with the sound of an engine coming to life.

"Naruto don't!" she said "Fine, call Sasuke to pick me up if he will."

"That's more like it. I'll call the jerk." Naruto clicked off.

Well this was awkward...

She was in the passenger seat of Uchiha's expensive car right now. He was driving with a slight scowl on his face. He didn't look too happy driving her to school and to be very honest, she did not blame him. She didn't want to see him after what happened either.

Yes, they talked in their shared classes sometimes but that was because they had to and it was only about school. Now? What could she talk about? Did she even want to? Did he want her to?

He had pulled up in front of her house 5 minutes after she had called Naruto and had mumbled something with "Naruto" and "Idiot" and "Bother" and then had told her to sit in the damn car already.

She had obliged and it had been 10 minutes since that and neither of them had even uttered a word. 'I know! Music will help.' She thought.

She moved her hand to turn the radio on when he slapped her hand away. "Hey!" she protested.

"No one messes with my car." He said, moving his eyes from the road to her and giving her a glare. He turned back to the road and she huffed.

"Well I don't want to sit in silence." She said.

"Then don't." he said.

"That's why I was trying to turn that on." She said.

"Like I said, no one messes with Rai." He said.

"Your car has a name?" she asked with a chuckle.

"You have a name, don't you?" he asked.

"Are you really comparing me to your car?" she asked.

"I can't compare you to my car." He said.

She turned away, smiling.

"...Because comparison is between equals. My car is superior to any life form."

She raised her eye brow and looked at him. He shrugged. 'Jerk' she thought.

"Can we turn on the radio now?" she asked, moving her hand to the radio/stereo again. Sasuke slapped her hand again and she didn't even bother again. They sat in silence until they could see the school building. Hinata grabbed her bag pack and got out of the car as soon as it stopped.

"Thanks for the ride." She said, looking over her shoulder to see him. He didn't smile but he didn't scowl either.

"Whatever." He said getting out of the car after her. "Just don't make it a damn habit. It's annoying."

She nodded and started walking into the building ahead of him. He had half a mind to tell her that was hella rude when he saw the girls in the school looking at her and then smiling when they saw him.

Oh...he remembered. High school was totally fucked up and it would get them both into deep shit if they were seen together because of his 'admirers'. He walked to literature to see Naruto sitting besides Hinata, who was laughing.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks a million." She said.

"Anything for you Hinata-chan." Naruto said, smiling brightly.

"Hey Sasuke-kun." Ino said, coming up to him. Sasuke glanced at her and resumed walking to his seat.

"My seat." He said to Naruto who grinned as he saw him.

"Yo Teme. Thanks for driving Hinata-chan." Naruto said, getting him. Sasuke said nothing but sat down next to Hinata, who was smiling for once at him too.

"And don't forget, we have practice today." Naruto said. "I know...I'm the one who told everyone to be there."

"Right. I forgot. Anyways, I'm going to my seat then..." Naruto said, getting up and returning to his seat. Hinata was going to go back to being invisible expect when spoken to when Sasuke surprised even himself by saying

"You're a cheerleader."

"Nice of you to notice." She said, a little sarcastic.

"Whatever. It just means you'll be at practice too." He said.

"I guess so."

He said nothing else and she didn't say anything either. They just sat in silence and waited for Kakashi.

Sasuke tried not to stare, with no success, as he looked at Hinata Hyuga, the cheerleader. She was wearing a dark and light blue cheerleading dress which was very short and barely even reached her knees. Her hair was still in a ponytail and she looked...hot.

The dress accentuated her curves and showed her petite figure. Sasuke noticed, she was, in flat shoes a head shorter than him. He wasn't the only one who was staring though.

Kiba, Naruto and Suigetsu had to be rushed out the room with a nosebleed while the other guys stared at her with their mouths agape and their eyes wide. Sasuke was the only one who at least looked at her with dignity, hoping he was not blushing.

Hinata looked at the guys with a wilting look and turned away, where all the other cheerleaders were glaring her jealously while Sakura and Ino just smirked at their reactions. The girls went and sat down in the bleachers and the guys finally had to take their eyes off Hinata.

Sasuke felt a little disappointed but then he felt glad Neji wasn't here. Otherwise all the members of the team would have been dead before their bodies would hit the floor. Who knew Hinata was quite a looker? Aside from the people who'd seen her in P.E of course.

"Let's start." Sasuke said, clearing his throat. The girls went to another part of the gym to practice while Sasuke and the boys formed two teams and started their practice. One team was the actual team consisting of Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, Haku (a senior year student), Shikamaru, Neji (whose place was taken by Suigetsu), Lee and Gaara. The substitute team was Shino, Kankuro, Choji, Suigetsu (who was replacing Neji today), Juggo, a second year Juno and another boy from their year, Leo.

The practice was an hour long after which everyone showered and Sasuke decided to head home. It had rained in the morning but the sky was still dark. Sasuke sighed and walked towards the parking lot. Everyone from practice was leaving and most of the school was empty.

Sasuke walked to his car and sat in it. He drove off and was soon speeding the car above the speed limit. He had just been driving for a few minutes when it started thundering. The raindrops fell like bullets and he was glad he had his car, with the twin name as the lightening itself.

He was just about to turn on the radio when he spotted some idiotic person walking in the rain. 'What an idiot' he thought. Even someone as dumb as Naruto would know not to walk home in weather like this. Hell, even Hyuga would be smarter.

Hyuga...he thought as something struck him. How had she managed to get home? Did she even get home? He did not know why but he slowed down and squinted to see who that person was who was walking in the rain.

It was a girl, the way she walked, he found on closer inspection. Yup...definitely someone from his school with a uniform like that. She had books over her hair and brought them down to run a little. Yup...it was definitely Hinata with hair like that.

He pressed the race and brought the car ahead of her and stopped it. She seemed confused by this and he had to roll his eyes.

He sighed as he got out of the car, rain falling on him. He mentally cursed himself for being a genuinely nice person...sometimes.

"Hyuga." He called. She looked at the source of the voice, namely the driver, looking into the dark eyes of Uchiha Sasuke. Of course, she thought as she looked at the car carefully, it was Rai...Sasuke's car.

"Hi? Um...Nice weather" she asked, trying to save her books from getting wet and smiling at her pathetic humor and ironic life.

"You idiot. Come in." he said, letting her in the car.

"You're sure Rai won't mind a wet passenger?" she asked, joking half heartedly.

"Just fucking get in." He said and cursed under her breath.

She obliged and shut the door. He got in too.

"You're 17 and you don't know how to drive?" he asked, turning the engine on and trying not to mind being wet. What the hell was wrong with her? She was the Hyuga heiress!

"Hey! I never felt the need to drive before." She defended. He pulled the car on the road, which was mostly empty.

"Learn then." He said impatiently.

"I will. Don't need to snap about it." She muttered.

"I'm the one who's stuck giving you a ride." He said, looking at her and scowling a little. He didn't even know why he gave her a ride. Maybe it was because he'd taken her to school and now felt responsible.

He'd even taken care of her during practice. How? By tackling the boys ogling her. Why? Because she was Neji's cousin and they respected each other and that's what Neji would have done. He didn't idolize Neji or shit like that...they just respected each other.

"You don't have to." She said looking at him. What was his problem? He was the one who told her to 'fucking get in'. He really had to develop a more social attitude.

"So you didn't need a ride?"

"I did and do."

"So then shut up."

"If you are so bothered by me, you can leave me here. I'd rather walk."

"You should say thanks instead of annoying me." He said in a monotone.

"Thank you for being bi-polar and thinking I'm stalking you? And for almost suffocating me?" Hinata decided a confrontation was Necessary.

"That wasn't my fault." He said as she reminded him of the encounter.

"Of course. It can happen to anyone." She said sarcastically.

"Whatever." He said.

"Can I turn on the radio? And just so you know, I'm not your fan girl."

He rolled his eyes and turned on the radio. She tried to flip a channel when he slapped her hand again. "Are you trying to get killed? We're going to have an accident because of you touching my radio without permission."

"Jeez, why are you so protective of your car...I mean Rai anyway?" she asked.

"Because he's mine." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Remind me never to get in your car again." She said.

Sasuke noticed she was quiet after that. But she was shaking. Or shivering. He was pretty sure it was from the cold. What the hell was her problem? He sighed as he stopped the car.

She looked at him questioningly. He said nothing as he took off his jacket, which was warm, and was not wet anymore being waterproof. He missed it already.

"Wear this." He said and handed it to her. Or shoved it to her. Whatever, minor details.

To say she looked surprised was an understatement. Her eyes widened and she looked shocked beyond her life. "But you're going...you'll be cold." She said.

"You'll have a fever along with your cousin." He said, turning the engine on again.

"But this is your basketball jacket." She said, still not wearing it.

"And that's why you better return it safely." He said, glaring at her. What a drag. This was all her fault. He pressed the race again and the car started moving.

He even turned the heater on. He looked over to see her in his jacket, which was too large for her. Her petite figure in his large jacket, she looked kinda cute. And Sasuke was a little relieved to see her _wet_ white polo shirt disappear underneath it.

"Thank you." She said, smiling at him.

"Hn. Whatever." He said, turning away.

She sighed, feeling really comfortable in the warm jacket and car. His jacket didn't even smell bad. It smelled like mint and coffee. Black coffee. The scent was a little soothing.

"Why were you walking in the rain?" he asked suddenly. Couldn't she ask her friends to give her a ride? What about Naruto? Oh yeah, he remembered, the idiot was in detention for messing up during practice. He had picked a fight with Suigestu for ogling Hinata again.

"The girls were going out together. I couldn't go because Neji is sick." She said.

Oh...that made sense. "You still could've asked anyone else for a ride." He stressed at the 'anyone'. Anyone Hinata, ring a bell? Cough, cough?

"I didn't want to bother anyone." She said.

Oh yeah. He had kinda told her it was annoying that he had to give her a ride. Whatever, she was annoying him. Even now. Even looking cute in the jacket.

"Well, next time, tell anyone the exceptional circumstances and anyone might help you out." He mumbled and looked away.

"I will. Looks like anybody might not be that bad." She said, smiling happily and teasingly at the same time.

He looked away. He was being too talkative but whatever. At least she was wasn't yelling or shouting like his other friends. And talking to her was not _that_ bad. Maybe he still felt guilty for their first encounter after gym.

The rest of the ride passed with Hinata smiling and Sasuke avoiding looking at her. The house, if one could call it that, was huge and looked pretty comfortable and posh. But then again, this was the Hyuga Heiress. She didn't look too lavish though.

"Thanks for the ride. Do you want to come in for some tea?" she asked him as he turned off the car. He looked at her this time and shook his head. It was still raining hard outside. She would have to cross the garden to get it.

"You don't need to run to the pharmacy today." He meant it as a question but it came out as a statement.

"Um...I don't think I can anymore. But no worries, I'll manage for Neji." She smiled at him.

He 'Hn-ed' again and she smiled. "Sasuke...kun...Thank you for the ride. And the jacket." She said.

"Yeah alright." He said, looking out the window, at the rain.

"I'll go now. I'll return your jacket later." She said, opening the door. She grabbed her bag and ran for it. She crossed the garden and went into the wooden patio. She turned back and laughed while looking at him.

He didn't know why, but Sasuke thought that was one of the cutest things (although he hated to admit it and use that horrifying word) he had seen in a long while. It was...nice.

She waved and he managed to raise a hand. She turned to the door, her back to him. Sasuke saw her before driving away.

The back of the jacket had 'Uchiha' printed on it with the school logo and somehow, the name and the jacket did not look bad at her.

Deciding he was going crazy, Sasuke turned on the radio on a loud volume and drove home.


	4. Parties and drinking

A few more days passed in harmony. The weather was sunny again for some days and Hinata and Sasuke's acquaintance progressed a little. He did not talk much even now but she did not mind and they both sat in a somewhat comfortable silence in classes.

Friday arrived and Sasuke just got out of economics when someone bumped into him from behind. "For the sake of every kind of God there is up there..." Sasuke said to himself as he turned around, annoyed.

The person who had bumped into him had been no one other than Hyuga Hinata, who was busy picking up her books. "Sasuke." She acknowledged.

"Hyuga." He countered, not so angry anymore. Why? Because she was just clumsy sometimes and thinking otherwise was hoping that Naruto would pick saving you from falling to your death over a year's supply of ramen.

"I have a name you know." She said, continuing to pick up the things she had dropped.

"Whatever. Watch where you're going." He said, turning to walk away. He caught sight of her looking at him annoyed and that just made him smirk.

"You could help me you know." She said, as he walked away. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Why would I do that?"

"Oh I forgot, it would hurt your ego if you helped me." She said, finishing picking up her books and walked in the same direction as him. Seeing as they had lockers next to each other (Hinata had a hard time living through murder attempts by fan girls after they found out), they walked side by side.

"It's your fault for being so damn clumsy." He shrugged. He moved his bag pack from one shoulder to the other. She looked a little strange.

"I'm sorry. I'm just excited." She said.

"You're always a little cheery and annoyingly distracted. Any particular reason for this episode though?" he raised his eye brow. Not that he cared or anything, but she did look kind of distracted.

"It's nothing. I just have to go somewhere tonight." She said as they reached their lockers.

"Alright then." He said as he moved to his locker and exchanged books for the next class.

"Oh Sasuke!" she said, suddenly as he was about to shut his locker. He looked over to her inquiringly and stopped.

"Your jacket." She smiled as she handed him his jacket with pink cheeks. Oh yeah. He had lent it to her. He had quite forgotten.

"Took you long enough." He said, taking it.

"I'm really sorry but I didn't have enough time to wash it before and now that I did, it's all yours." She said. She had hoped he would not mind waiting for the jacket. She wanted to give to him in a good condition.

"Yeah, whatever." He said as he slipped it on over his dark T-shirt. It smelt good. Like the spicy, tangy smell of lavenders and the sweet smell of something he did not identify. Did he smell girly? If so, he needed to get back the old smell of mint and coffee.

She was still looking at him. He raised his eye brow. "Um...Thank you again." She said.

"You've said that already." He said as he slammed his locker. She nodded and exchanged her books.

Hinata was about to head to class when she noticed Sasuke was still standing, leaning against his locker. Was there something else he wanted? "Um...is something wrong?" she asked.

He looked over with a sigh. "Walk to class with me." He said, putting his hands in his pocket. Well...that was certainly not a request. Not with someone like Sasuke.

She nodded and started walking to class. They both did not say anything while walking to class and took their separate seats in class.

Hinata wasn't sure why but she decided to glance in his direction once. He was looking straight towards the board and occasionally writing something in his notebook.

She smiled and got to work, unaware of someone looking at her from behind. Someone possibly not friendly.

"Finally! The weekend!" Naruto yelled into Sasuke's ear as they walked towards the parking lot together.

Sasuke did not even flinch at his loudness, as he was accustomed to it by now, although he looked slightly annoyed. "What's gotten you so happy?" he asked, sighing, knowing Naruto was dying for him to ask that.

"I told you that I couldn't tell you that Teme, but now that you're so insistent..." Naruto trailed off and looked at Sasuke. Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked faster.

"It's this party. All of us boys were deciding to go there" Naruto announced. Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "And all of us includes?" Sasuke asked.

"You know, Kiba, Shikamaru...everyone." Naruto said "It's at Sakura's place by the way." Sakura's parties were fun and even Sasuke admitted that. That did not mean he was going there. He had better things to do. Like watch television the whole day.

"You should come." Naruto said when Sasuke didn't reply "It's the first party of junior year. Plus you can get anyone to come with you."

"You guys can go. I'll think about it." Meaning I will not go there in a million years and I never considered your offer or considered saying yes, I just did it to get you off my back.

"You're not coming are you?" Naruto asked. Damn...he knew Sasuke too well.

"I have things to do." Sasuke excused.

"What things?" Naruto asked.

"What are you, my wife?" Sasuke said, irritated "I just don't want to go."

"Fine...go spend time with your stick in the ass self and we're all going to have fun. Personally, I wanna see Hinata-chan there."

"She's going to the party?" Sasuke asked, stopping walking.

"Yeah of course. She's Sakura-Chan's friend." Naruto said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. 'Sorry idiot, but we don't all keep tabs of pretty girls with violet hair and their friends' he thought to himself.

Wait...did I just think she was pretty? Nah...

"She's so hot...and beautiful. And she's really nice too. She helped me with literature homework the other day. She's an angel honestly..."

Naruto kept rambling about Hinata and how great she was and Sasuke rolled his eyes. Please don't let the idiot have a crush on Hyuga.

"Whatever Naruto. I'm going home. I'll tell you if I'm coming to the party or not later." Sasuke rode off in his car and only then Naruto realized his best friend was already gone.

"Yeah, later Teme." Naruto mumbled to himself and left to find his neon orange car.

Hinata glanced at the clock. It was 8'o clock. She decided to head out to Sakura's place to help out. She was currently dressed in a long T-shirt and jeans over sneakers. She had decided to change at Sakura's place like the girls had originally planned.

She shouldered her duffel bag and called out to Neji. "I'm going now." She said.

"Let me drive you." He said, wearing his jacket as he stepped out of his room.

"I can walk. Her house isn't even that far. And you are supposed to come there with your friends. I don't want to ruin your plans."

"You can't possible ruin my plans Hina. And it's night. I can't let you walk alone." He said, grabbing his keys "Besides, I'll go over to my friend's place as soon as I drop you off. I don't want to spend an hour with girls gossiping and getting dressed."

Hinata playfully slapped his shoulder and he smiled. He pulled out the car from the driveway and they set off. After 10 minutes, they stopped in front of Sakura's house.

"See you Hina."

"Later Neji." Hinata said as she skipped off into the house. She knocked on the door and it was opened by Tenten.

"She's here guys!" she called out as she pulled Hinata into the house.

"Hi everyone." Hinata said, smiling at the sight of her friends which included Sakura, Ino, Temari and Tenten all smiling widely.

"Hina! We were wondering where you were!" Ino chirped as she hugged Hinata.

"Ino, we just saw each other at school today. We even had practice." Hinata giggled. Ino didn't look like she heard and continued to hug her as if it had been 10 years since they'd last seen each other.

"Anyways, how much preparation is left?" Hinata asked as Ino backed off.

"We're almost done. You can help by putting the snacks in these bowls and put them on the table." Sakura said.

"Are you sure your parents won't mind Sakura?" Temari asked.

"I'm pretty sure they won't know. If they find out...well that's something else." Sakura shuddered. Ino and Tenten also shuddered, as if remembering something bad.

"What happened?" Temari asked.

"Just that...her mom can be pretty scary." Ino said.

"Figures. Looks like we know who she got it from." Temari smirked as Sakura scowled at her and then smiled.

"Anyways, the timing was 8 but I'm pretty sure people will start coming by 9. So let's get dressed." Tenten said as the finished putting the snacks on the table.

"Yeah, let's go. Everybody got their things?" Temari asked. The girls nodded and headed towards Sakura's bedroom upstairs.

They were going to wear semi-formal clothes. Just a little more than casual. Sakura pulled on a spaghetti strap shirt and a skirt underneath and wore 2 inch heals underneath. She fixed her bangs and pushed the rest of her hair back with her hair band and used minimum make up.

Ino wore a black V-Neck shirt which hugged her body and made her look great. She wore Capri pants underneath and high heels while pulling her hair into a ponytail. She applied lip-gloss that made her lips looks plump.

Temari wore a fresh green shirt over an off white skirt over sandals. She wore a little makeup and large hoop earrings. Tenten still had her hair in a bun and she wore a sleeveless kimono shirt (red) over jeans and flat shoes.

Hinata pulled her hair into a messy bun, which showed off her slender neck and her bangs framed her face. She applied a little eye shade to make her eyes look smoky and her lavender orbs stood out, making her look beautiful. She pulled on a midnight blue tank top over jeans and the outfit made her look amazing. She wore flat ballet shoes underneath and she was ready.

"Whoa...Hinata, you have an amazing body." Temari wolf whistled along with Tenten who stared with her mouth open.

"We know." Ino and Sakura said smugly as they saw her in the gym every day. Also in her cheerleading outfits.

"Thanks?" Hinata said, smiling a little.

"Thanks?" Ino said "You should see the boys ogle her in the gym and at practice. I would be jealous if it wasn't so funny to see them drool."

Sakura laughed too and Hinata playfully punched their arms. "Shut it you guys." She said, trying to scowl.

"Awww Hina you look adorable. And admit it, you love us." Sakura said, hugging her slightly.

"Okay I admit it." Hinata said, sighing in defeat. The girls cheered when there was a ring at the doorbell.

"Whoa...is it 9 already?" Tenten asked, looking flabbergasted.

"We took that long to get ready?" Sakura asked.

"Let's go. The guests are arriving." Hinata said, ushering them towards the door. The girls walked down the stairs and Ino opened the door.

It was a few guys from her class and she let them in. Slowly, the people started arriving and the party started to liven up.

The music was blaring loudly when Hinata saw Neji come in along with the rest of the boys. Naruto was grinning widely, Kiba was showing off his sharp canines, Suigetsu was nudging Juggo in the ribs and the rest of the boys were following.

"Hey guys." Hinata said, making her was towards the boys.

"Hinata..." Kiba started brightly and stopped when he saw her. Naruto looked at her and his eyes widened a little too.

"Hey Hinata." Neji said. Suigetsu was also staring at Hinata while Juggo just looked away after seeing her. They both never had gotten over the basketball incident.

"Is something wrong with you guys? Or is it me?" Hinata asked, when none of them spoke for a little while.

Neji slapped his forehead, looking embarrassed while Naruto, Kiba and Suigetsu continued staring. "It's not you. They're idiots." Said a voice and Sasuke made his way in front of her.

He was dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans, with his pale skin standing out. Hinata smiled. "I didn't think you'd come, actually." she said.

"Why?" he asked.

"You didn't look too social." She said.

Sasuke did not say anything but trailed his eyes over her. No wonder the idiots were dumb struck. She looked super hot in her tank top and jeans, and those eyes. Sasuke had the decency to show some dignity although.

"HINATA! You look beautiful." Kiba and Naruto shouted simultaneously. Suigetsu was still quiet.

"Thank you." She said, smiling at them. Suigetsu swayed a little when she smiled and Shikamaru put an arm around his shoulder just in case.

"Let's go meet the others." Neji purposefully dragged them over, leaving Hinata and Sasuke standing there.

"So...um...would you like some refreshments?" she asked. He shrugged and she led him to the kitchen where the snacks were.

"What would you like?" she asked. "Whatever you're having." He answered, trying not to be distracted by her look.

"I'm having coke." She said. "What are you, 10?" he asked.

"No...I'm just...I'm not drinking underage." She said.

"Of course not. Well hand me the beer." He said, rolling his eyes. He had no clue what had changed his mind about coming to the party. But at the last moment, he had decided he should go to the party. Partly because Izumi had come to the house and he did not look forward to seeing his brother and his girlfriend make out shamelessly on the couch.

Sasuke looked around. Almost all the people in their year were here. The house was pretty big and everyone was having fun. The music was a bit too loud for his taste though.

"You don't strike me as the party girl either." Sasuke said suddenly.

"This was my friend's party. I could not skip it." She said, looking at him. She was looking at the people dancing and getting drunk.

"Do you dance?" he asked, before he could stop himself.

She looked at him in surprise for a moment before nodding. "Hn, go find someone to dance with then." He said as he finished the beer and walked away.

Hinata stared at his back for a while before scowling and leaving to see her friends. She made her way towards Sakura, who was talking to a few boys.

"Hinata, there you are." Sakura said as soon as she spotted Hinata. "Hi Sakura." Hinata replied, smiling.

"Is this your friend you were telling us about?" a white-ish haired guy said, stepping forward.

"Omoi, this is the very friend I was talking about." Sakura said, smiling.

"Nice to meet you Omoi. I'm Hinata." Hinata said, shaking hands with him.

"You're certainly prettier than Sakura let on." He said, smiling "Pleasure to meet you Hinata-chan." A red head stepped in front and slapped Omoi's head.

"Don't mind Omoi. My name's Karui. I'm his...friend" The red head girl said, smiling.

"I haven't actually seen you guys around Konoha high." Hinata said, shaking hands.

"That's because we're from Cloud High." Omoi said, sipping a beer. "We were just here for the weekend. Sakura's her friend so we came here. Not that I regret it now." He pointed to Karui and then winked at Hinata.

Hinata smiled and blushed a little. "Well, I'm glad. Do you want anything?" she asked.

"I want you to drink with me." Omoi said promptly.

"I don't see why not." Hinata said as she grabbed a coke from the table. "You're drinking that?" Ino suddenly came out of nowhere.

"Ino? And yeah, I am. Why?" Hinata asked, puzzled.

"Its rude to drink coke while your companion drinks beer. And besides, it's not like alcohol. I guarantee you it's a rule to drink at least one beer in a party" Sakura said, slapping her hands on Hinata's shoulders.

"I've never heard of that one before." Hinata raised her eyebrow.

"Of course not. When was the last time you threw a party? That's right...never!" Ino said as she thrust a beer into Hinata's hand.

Omoi raised his beer to hers and they both said cheers before drinking and Hinata had to admit, the beer was not that bad.

Sakura and Ino walked away, along with Karui, triumphant smiles on their faces. "I hope she has a boyfriend by the time this party ends." Ino said, rubbing her hands together.

"A date will do too." Sakura said.

"Or a couple of dates." Karui cackled and the girls walked away laughing.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was hanging out with Naruto and Kiba, two loudest people he knew. "THIS PARTY IS SO AWESOME!" Kiba yelled as he jumped to the beat on the dance floor.

"I KNOW, RIGHT?" Naruto also yelled.

Sasuke stopped the urge to strangle them. He had tried to get away from them at the party but they always found him and dragged him back to the dance floor.

And it was better here, because there were all kinds of girls lurking at the party and Sasuke didn't want to deal with them right now. He wondered where Neji was. As if on cue, someone clad in a green jumpsuit came into view, dragging behind a mass of brown hair.

"LET US FLOW WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH NEJI-KUN!" Lee yelled. Neji looked like he wanted to strangle the dude. Sasuke understood. Seriously, he did.

Lee joined the others on the dance floor while Neji came to stand beside Sasuke. "Nice party huh." Neji commented.

"Hn." Sasuke said, looking at their friends dance stupidly.

"Well, there go any chances of them finding girl friends at this party." Neji mumbled. Sasuke agreed. All the girls made sure not to be within a hundred yards of the boys.

"I don't know, works for me, keeps girls away from here." Sasuke shrugged.

"Have you seen Hinata anywhere though?" Neji asked, looking around.

"No." Sasuke said. He noticed that Neji looked a little sick. He raised his eyebrow. Neji was turning...green?

"I...I'm going to..." Neji ran off without completing his sentence. Sasuke wasn't sure if he should follow him or not. He came back after a few minutes.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked, looking at him.

"I...feel sick. I should go home actually." Neji said, looking tired. Sasuke had an inkling he had not fully healed from the sickness yet.

"Why did you come if you felt sick?" Sasuke said, sighing. "I didn't want to make Hinata worry." Neji replied, sitting down on the couch now.

"Do you need me to drive you home?" Sasuke asked. Neji shook his head.

"I'll manage. Just make sure Hinata is okay." Neji looked at him and continued "This is her first party here and I don't want her to worry about me. I don't want anyone to make her experience unpleasant either and you're the only one sane around here. Take care of her."

"The fuck? How am I the only sane one you can leave your cousin with?" Sasuke asked, irritated.

"Sasuke...I'll buy you onigiri for a week." Neji offered. Now that was another matter. Sasuke's face broke into a smirk.

"I'll do it." He said. Neji nodded and turned to leave. "AND MAKE SURE SHE'S OKAY." he said before going.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sheesh papa bear, I got it." He muttered. He left the couch to look for Hinata now. Naruto and Kiba weren't dancing anymore. Sasuke walked out of the lounge to see the initial stage of the party was over and everyone was getting drunk by now.

He could not see Hinata anywhere. Come to think of it, he couldn't see Sakura or Ino either. He walked to the kitchen, getting of the girls trying to seduce him along the way.

When he got to the kitchen, there was a crowd gathered there. Everyone was yelling "DRINK, DRINK, DRINK".

Sasuke figured it must be a drinking contest. Now only to find Hinata. He could not spot her in the crowd. He pushed through the crowd to see who was drinking anyway. He was not prepared for the sight in front of him.

Suigetsu, Kiba, Naruto, Ino and...Hinata were sitting at the table, drinking shots. Everyone was cheering and Sasuke figured everyone was drunk.

The contestants were laughing and giggling (Hinata). Kiba suddenly dropped to the floor, snoring. He was out. Hinata, Naruto, Suigetsu and Ino remained. A lot of other people were already on the floor. He didn't even want to know how many there had been there at the beginning.

"How many shots has she had?" Sasuke asked, grabbing Sakura's arm, who was giggling pointlessly. "I don't know...I stopped counting after 20."

20? NEJI WAS GOING TO KILL HIM!

He walked over to her and yanked her up by her arm. "You're not drinking anymore." He said.

"But I'm winning." She whined in a very un-Hinata like way. She was right though. The contestants had been reduced to Naruto and her. Naruto suddenly hugged Hinata tightly and started yelling randomly.

"HINATA CHAN...YOU'RE SO AWESOME! AND I THINK I KINDA LIKE YOU. I LIKE YOU A LOT. AND I THINK YOU'RE PRETTY. YOU'RE PRETTY TOO SAKURA-CHAN. BUT HINATA...MAN SHE'S SO HOT. I WANNA KISS HER! AND..."

"You won." Sasuke yanked her away from the table as he punched Naruto's face and he dropped to the floor. Suddenly a weird boy with white-ish hair grabbed Hinata's arms and hugged her from behind.

"Hina...you won the contest...cuz you're awesome." He said slurring his words "Can I kiss you now?"

"She's not kissing you." Sasuke pushed him away before Hinata could answer.

"Sasuke...that was...that was mean. And I want to kiss him." she said. She was trying to frown but was pouting instead...in a cute way.

"You don't want to kiss him. You want to go home." Sasuke insisted. Neji was paying him with two weeks of Onigiri with tomato juice for this one.

"I do?" she asked. He nodded as he dragged her with him. It was a wonder how she was still managing to look so pretty, despite being wasted.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked as she came out of nowhere.

"I'm taking her home. Move." Sasuke said.

Sakura refused. "No you're not. We haven't even played Spin the bottle yet."

"Yay! I wanna play." Hinata giggled and jumped.

"Hinata, you have to go home." Sasuke insisted.

"Just one round. Please..." Sakura said, doing her puppy eyes thing which obviously worked on Hinata but not Sasuke.

"Please Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked. Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes which Hinata took as agreement and ran off with Sakura, dragging him.

How Sakura managed to wake up their drunken friends, he had no clue. Now, a good 15 people were present for spin the bottle, even though they were drunk.

"Naruto first."

Naruto spun the bottle and it landed right on some random girl. "Hallelujah. Praise the Lord Almighty!" Naruto whooped before practically jumping on her and kissing her, who laughed and soon it turned into a make out session, between the two drunks.

"I think they're out." Someone said.

"Okay then...I'm next." Sakura said. She spun the bottle and it started slowing down near Sasuke. Sakura's eyes lit up and Sasuke groaned. With a flick faster than his drunk friends could see, Sasuke managed to make the bottle turn to Kiba.

She looked sad but shrugged and kissed Kiba, who's eyes widened at the realization. Everyone was spinning the bottle now. Omoi's bottle landed on Hinata and they both looked at each other but Sasuke knew he had to prevent the kiss so Neji would not kill him.

As Omoi hovered above Hinata's face, Sasuke who was in next to her smacked his face hard. As a result, Omoi fell on his face and fainted which everyone blamed on the alcohol even though they had seen Sasuke punch him.

Oh innocent, amusing drunkards. Hinata's turn was the last. She spun the bottle and Sasuke got ready to punch whoever it landed on. Then something happened at once.

The bottle stopped at him. He was shocked initially for a second before Hinata practically jumped on him and kissed him.

Sasuke had kissed girls before but suddenly, he felt heat creep up his neck. He didn't know why, but this felt really good. He kissed her back and damn, he felt good. Her hands moved to keep him in place and he moved his hands into her hair. His hands fisted her hair and she put her arms around his neck.

Before the kiss could turn passionate, realization hit him and he realized he was supposed to be taking care of her, not kissing her even if it felt really nice.

He broke away and looked at her face, flushed and smiling. Everyone else was looking at them. When he glared, they hastily turned back to the game. They probably wouldn't remember it later on.

He took Hinata's hand and dragged her up. "You're going home." He said, pulling her with him. She laughed and followed him gladly.

He knew he had to help Kiba and Naruto home but then again, they might not come with him. "You guys need a ride?" he asked anyway. No reply. Naruto was slumped on the floor now and Kiba was yelling.

Sasuke sighed and walked out the door with Hinata. He led her to his car and helped her sit in the passenger seat while she giggled. "I think I've...I've seen this...ca...car before." She said, still giggling and now hiccoughing.

"I'm sure you have." He muttered while he secured her seat belt and shut her side of the door. He moved to the driver's side and slid inside. Thank God he had high alcohol tolerance and could drive despite drinking.

Sasuke started the car and made his way towards Hinata's place. He looked at her. She had her eyes closed and her brows were furrowed. Was she asleep? Whatever. He turned to the road again.

"Stop the car." She said harshly. He was a little surprised but complied with her request. She fiddled with the seatbelt and got out of the car. Sasuke also made his way out of the car. Hinata was sitting on the edge of the road, puking her guts out.

Sasuke sighed and moved to hold back her indigo locks. She vomited for another few moments. "You okay?" he asked, even though it was clear she was not. She was vomiting all the alcohol but whatever.

She nodded despite everything and he had no idea from where, but she wiped her mouth with a tissue. She nodded again and he let go of her hair. He had to note that her hair was very smooth and silky.

She groaned as she turned to his car again. "I swear if you puke in my car" he said as he helped her sit again.

"I'll try." She said, softly "I just hate alcohol."

Sasuke smirked. Yes, he was a sadist but this was funny. Hinata would remember not to drink again. However, not all things bad had come from her being drunk. For example the kiss. She was bolder while drunk.

He still had no idea why he returned her kiss instead of shoving her away and even enjoyed it. He was going mad. He shook his head and began driving as soon as they were both in the car again.

They reached her home safely. "I assume you can walk in on your own." He said. She nodded softly.

"Thank you for bringing me home." She said as she unbuckled her seat belt. He didn't say anything as she stepped out of the car.

"Good bye." She said and he raised his hand as a gesture of bye. She walked in quietly. Sasuke drove off in the direction of his own home, many things weighing his mind, the petite Hyuga being one of them.

Author Notes: Another chapter done. I hope you guys like it. Do comment to let me know what you think and if i'm not developing the Sasuke and Hinata part enough. There will be more development and i also apologize if the characters are somewhat OOC because this is still my first time attempting to write them. Also excuse me if there are some grammatical errors. I will edit them later.

Your reviews are appreciated. They make me write more eagerly.


	5. Coffee and shocks

"Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke looked back to see a blonde girl holding out a box of chocolates. "Please accept my love." She said, bowing her head.

Sasuke frowned. "Look, I'm not interested." He said, deciding not to be too harsh to the girl. He turned back to his locker, trying to ignore the girl's tearful eyes. She ran away howling. He sweat dropped.

"You could have handled _that_ better." Someone retorted. It was Kiba, walking towards Sasuke's locker along with Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Look, I don't have time for this. And it's getting old." Sasuke said, slamming his locker shut.

"Geez, and you'd think one would be happy with so much attention." Naruto grumbled. "I agree" Kiba said "I wish we'd have girls fawning over us."

"Meh, it all seems too troublesome." Shikamaru said, yawning. Sasuke hoped for a moment that Kiba's wish would come true but it didn't seem likely.

"Whatever, we have practice." He said instead.

"Looks like someone's excited to see the cheerleaders practice." Naruto wriggled his eyebrows. Kiba barked out a laugh.

"They're not a bad sight." Shikamaru shrugged.

"What the hell do you mean...we have a match with the cloud team soon." Sasuke said, angrily. Were girls the only thing his friends thought about?

"Yeah, yeah, we know. Cloud High isn't even that big of a deal." Naruto said.

Though he hadn't seen Hinata come to practice again since the party. She seemed to be avoiding him. He wondered if she remembered the kiss.

The kiss. Sure, it felt good but it was no reason to avoid him. She was just drunk and...it was kind of understandable? Whatever...he did not have time for this right now.

He stalked off to the gym with his friends in tow. They went to the locker rooms to change. "Why do they have cameras in the boys' locker rooms again?" Kiba grumbled as they stepped inside.

"I know; they make me so uncomfortable." Naruto said, creeped out.

"Probably because Vice Principal Orochimaru is a pervert and likes spying on us." Sasuke sighed as he took off his shirt. The others started to strip as well and after a few minutes they were changed into gym gear. He walked into the gym to find the cheerleaders already practicing their cheerleading moves.

"Hinata, you're doing great. I can't believe you made it to the top of the pyramid already." Ino cheered. "Yeah, those 15 years of gymnastics and martial arts must be useful." Sakura added.

Sasuke looked to see them praising a red faced Hinata as she drank water. "Ha,ha I still can't believe you kicked Karin's face though" Sakura laughed.

Sasuke raised his eye brow at this. Hinata looked a little sheepish as she said "I told you Sakura, it was an accident."

"Of course it was." Ino said, in a disbelieving tone but also laughing.

"Could you get back to practice please?" Temari, the team's manager said, coming up to them. "We're tired. And we want to see the boys practice." Ino said.

"I don't think they can practice while you guys are in the room." Temari said, looking over to the boys. Sasuke also looked at his team. They were practically drooling, looking at the cheerleaders. Sasuke had to roll his eyes. What idiots. Get over it already. So what if their dresses were short?

"Okay, we'll go to the bleachers and watch the game." Sakura said.

"Fine. CHEERLEADERS AT THE BLEACHERS. YOU HAVE A BREAK!" Temari yelled. It snapped the boys of their trance as well and they all jumped slightly. Sasuke's eyes scanned Neji. He was sitting on the bench, trying the laces of his shoes.

"Let's start this." Neji said, standing up.

Sasuke walked over to Neji as he began giving out instructions. "Oi Sasuke, come here." Neji said. "I am coming." Sasuke said.

The game started and everyone went into their positions. The whistle was heard and the ball came into Naruto's hands as he started dribbling it towards the basket. Sasuke ran ahead. He and Naruto could read each other's movements. They had the best partnership and coordination.

"Go Sasuke-kun!" the girls shouted. Sasuke didn't pay them any attention. Just as Suigetsu tried to take the ball from Naruto, he threw it to Sasuke who ran ahead with the ball and had scored a three pointer in the next moment.

"Good one Sasuke." Neji said, smiling. Sasuke's eyes drifted towards the bleachers. He noticed a footmark on Karin's face. He knew what Sakura and Ino meant now. The girls were waving to him. All of them. Okay all except Hinata.

She was waving to Kiba and Naruto who were grinning like idiots. Why didn't she act like a fan girl? It annoyed him a little personally. He took it as an insult. As a challenge.

They continued with the practice and it was going very satisfactory. Sometime during the practice, the girls started to practice their routine and overall, the practice went well.

Sasuke stepped out of the showers and dressed into the uniform once again. He walked out to his locker to pick up his books and saw someone standing next in front of the locker next to his, their back to him.

He walked towards his locker. It was Hinata. She was the only one with hair that shade. "Hyuga" he said. She jumped slightly and looked back quickly.

"Um...Hi." She said, smiling a little nervously. What was her problem? Sasuke turned to take out his books.

Hinata on the other hand was panicking. She had not confronted him about the kiss, which she happened to remember. She knew she had to do it sooner or later. Now, they were both alone here. Could she do it now?

"Why do you look like I am about to murder you?" Sasuke asked, frowning. Man, he looked so handsome even now.

"I wanted to confront you...about the kiss." She said.

"You mean the one when you jumped on me?" he asked, smirking devilishly. Hinata felt her neck go hot and she felt embarrassed.

"Yes. The same." She muttered. "What about it?" he asked, raising his eye brow.

"I'm sorry." She said. "Sorry?" he asked "Care to clarify?"

"It's not like I didn't like it..." she suddenly stopped when she realized what she was saying and Sasuke's smirk was expanding.

"I MEAN IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" She said and ran away. Sasuke sweat dropped. This girl was seriously weird. And she had left all her things behind. Should he take them to her? And she had liked the kiss. Well, that was a relief. So much for being a challenge.

He grabbed her things along with his bag and walked out to the parking lot. He saw Neji, Tenten and Hinata standing in the parking lot, talking about something.

"...it's okay. I can manage." Hinata said. She smiled at her cousin who looked a little guilty.

"I'm so sorry, it completely slipped my mind." He said. He was standing near Tenten and smiling at Hinata.

"I could ask someone to give you a ride Hina." Tenten said.

"It's not a bother. You guys go on." Hinata said "Really."

"Sasuke!" Neji suddenly spotted him and his eye lit up "Could you drop Hinata home on your way?"

"How do you know I'm going home?" Sasuke asked, raising his brow "I could be going on a date you know."

"Damn it." Neji said, frustrated.

"Fine, I'll take her home." Sasuke said "And Hyuga...you left your things."

Hinata met his eye and took her things. "Great. Uchiha, make sure to take care of her and Neji, we're late let's go." Tenten said, dragging Neji to his car.

"Later Hina." He said, disappearing into his car. Tenten climbed into the passenger seat and they were both off in a minute.

Hinata glanced at Sasuke, standing with his hands in his pocket. "You really need to learn how to drive." He said.

"Tell me about it." She said, walking over to his car. She looked at him expectantly and was surprised to see him smirking at her again.

"So you liked the kiss huh?" he asked as he slid into the car. She squeezed her eyes shut as she heard what he said.

"It doesn't matter. I was drunk." She said.

"You're not drunk now. If I kissed you, would you kiss me back?"

"No. And you wouldn't kiss me because you don't like girls. I'm sorry I caused you discomfort. I should have known better."

"Made me uncomfortable?" he asked, confused.

"You know...you being gay and me kissing you. It had to be uncomfortable. You don't have to be modest."

Sasuke was speechless for a moment before he regained his composure. "Who told you that?" he asked.

"Was it supposed to be a secret?" she asked, confused. "It was Naruto, wasn't it?" he growled and she saw his face storm...literally. It turned all dark and menacing. She didn't know if she should tell him if it was Naruto or not. It was but still...

"You're...not gay?" she asked.

"NO!" he spluttered "I like girls!"

"You stay away from them so..." she trailed off, as he looked her in the eye.

"I'm not gay. I liked the kiss too." He said. She didn't know what to say to that except feel her eyes widen. So...Sasuke didn't hate her for kissing him?

He started the car and pulled it out of the parking lot. "Where's Naruto?" she asked. "He still has detention." He informed her.

"I hate it when he gets into trouble."

"That was because of you." Sasuke said.

"I didn't tell him to fight Suigetsu because he was looking at me!" she defended. Sasuke shrugged. "Doesn't make much of a difference."

They were quiet for a few minutes before Sasuke said "So now that I'm not gay, would you kiss me back?"

She scowled and his smirk widened. She was too gullible. "I would not." She said.

"Why not? I'm handsome, rich, popular..."

"The reason is none of your concern." She said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Oh, my heart." He said flatly, putting a hand over his heart and looking at her. She rolled her eyes and looked out the window.

The weather was no longer sunny. The clouds were covering the sun and the atmosphere looked gloomy. "Why is the weather always like this when we're together?" she asked, sighing.

"Probably because of your negative attitude." He said, in a monotone. "Ha, ha." She said sarcastically.

"No seriously...why wouldn't you kiss me back?" he asked. Why was he asking that? He did not even know himself. He didn't even like her. But why did it kinda sting when she showed no interest in him.

"I don't have to tell you the reason." She said.

He took a turn on the road. "This is the wrong way." She said, raising her eye brows.

"We're getting coffee." He informed her.

"You didn't even ask me if I wanted coffee." She said, exasperated. "Do you want coffee?" he asked. She shook her head.

"That didn't make much of a difference." He said. 'Clearly' she thought.

Hinata looked at Sasuke's perfectly chiseled face as he sat across her. He was looking around the café. He had ordered a black coffee for himself and Hinata had ordered a latte.

"Why do you like black coffee?" she asked, looking at him.

"Because I hate sweet things." He informed her. She didn't say anything to that, instead turning her head to look at the approaching waiter. He was tall and good looking. He saw Hinata looking at him and winked at her.

Sasuke noticed that too and sent him a glare. The waiter didn't get the memo and "accidently" brushed hands with Hinata while he handed her the latte.

Sasuke _accidently_ slapped the tray, making his coffee fall down. "Looks like you have to make another one."

The waiter scowled at Sasuke but turned away wordlessly. "Sasuke you didn't have to be such a jerk to him." Hinata reprimanded.

"If you want to flirt with him, come another time." Sasuke said. Why was he acting like this? He liked the fact that Hinata was not a fan girl but they were not friends and he most certainly did _not_ like her.

"I don't want to flirt with anyone. I'm committed." She informed him.

"So you're taken already?" he asked, taken aback.

"Something like that..." she muttered. Now Sasuke was a little curious. Who was she dating? Was it a long distance relationship?

"Long-distance relationship?" he asked. She nodded. He looked at her interrogatively.

"Look, just let it go." She said.

"Tell me about it and I will back off." He said. He was curious to know what was going on and who that person was.

"Fine. But no one else better find out." She said, annoyed. He smirked. He had succeeded.

"I'm engaged to someone so I don't need a boyfriend or something at the moment." She said.

She was...engaged? Wow...he had not expected THAT. "What's the name?" he asked, his voice a little low.

"I don't know." She said, shrugging and sipping her latte.

"...what?" Sasuke asked. Maybe he had not heard her properly. She didn't know?

"I don't know." She repeated and looked at him. "You don't know." He said. She nodded.

"You're engaged to someone and you don't know who it is? Are you stupid?" he asked "Oh wait, wrong question."

"Hey, sassypants, I'm an heiress, they could have engaged me to anyone for their benefit." She said "I never felt the need to know."

"So you're just going to marry someone you don't love in the near future?" he asked. She shrugged. "Perks of being the heiress."

"You know that's ridiculous." Sasuke said, taking his coffee from the scowling waiter, glaring at him again.

"I know." She said, finishing her latte. Sasuke did not know what to say to this, so he didn't. He honestly could not believe this. He might not be her friend or like her like that, but he still felt a little bad for her. And she wasn't even whining about it. That must take guts.

He hoped whoever it was, wasn't a jerk. Maybe he could be a nice guy. He looked over to her, as she stared out of the window of the café. The soft wind was blowing her hair to a side and she looked pretty.

"Let's go." He said, putting some money on the table and getting up. She nodded and got up.

They rode the rest of the way quietly. Sasuke honestly did not feel like talking after what he had just heard. She also seemed a little quiet.

"Thanks for the coffee. I actually didn't have a bad time." She said, as he stopped the car in front of her place. She was looking at him and he looked back. They stared at each other intensely for a moment before she opened the car door.

He smirked half heartedly. "Later." He said. She smiled and took her bag and stepped out of the car. "Bye." She said.

He drove off and she looked at his car from the back. She hoped it would be okay. She had never really thought about being engaged but now she did. What if she and her fiancé weren't compatible? What if they were unhappy together?

She shook her head and stepped inside her house. It wouldn't hurt to hope that things would work out.

_  
Author Notes:

So, how was it? I am going to work on SasuHina development now instead of rushing it. Again, excuse me if the characters are a bit OOC or if there are any mistakes. Let me know what you think on how the story should progress, if there is any error in the story-line or such. Your comments mean a lot so, do comment. That will be all for now.


	6. A Dinner Party

"...and the deal was secured just like that." Itachi smirked as his father looked at him in awe.

"I knew I could count on you. You're my best diplomat after all Itachi." Fugaku praised his eldest son. Sasuke scoffed before eating his breakfast.

"Jealous?" Itachi said, smugly.

"In your dreams." Sasuke said. "Don't worry Sasuke, I'm sure you'll do good in the company as well." Fugaku said.

"I'm sure he will." Mikoto said, giving Fugaku his coffee and sitting on the table besides him. She looked around at Itachi and Sasuke before starting to eat herself.

"Everyone, I want you home early tonight. For the dinner." Mikoto instructed.

"What dinner?" Sasuke asked, his mouthful.

"Sasuke, I told you two weeks before that someone's having dinner with us this Friday." Mikoto said, frowning.

"You mean..." Fugaku was saying when Mikoto elbowed him in the ribs.

"But mother, we have a meeting this evening." Itachi said, timidly. Fugaku nodded. "And I have plans with my friends." Sasuke informed her.

"You both are going to be here for dinner and that's it. If you have a meeting, Fugaku can take care of it." Mikoto announced. There was a hint of a challenge in her voice. And they dared not disagree.

"Fine..." Sasuke gave in and Itachi nodded too.

 _Another fucked up Friday,_ Sasuke thought as he went to his car, _Just great._

"Hinata, are you okay?" Kiba asked as he and Hinata sat for lunch.

"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous..." Hinata said, looking at her tray of food.

"Nervous about what? Kiba asked. Hinata opened her mouth to say something when someone cut them off.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto's voice was loud as he ran over to their table. He slid in next to Hinata and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey Naruto." Hinata said, smiling. Naruto looked exceptionally happy today. Hinata also spotted Sasuke sit next to Kiba across her. He was checking his beautiful watch again. She looked at him and he caught her staring and raised his eye brow. She simply looked away.

"What are you so excited about, anyways?" Kiba asked.

"Me, Sakura and the others decided to get together this afternoon!" Naruto exclaimed happily, looking at Hinata, Kiba and Sasuke one after another.

"Without us? Some friend you are..." Kiba muttered, looking put out. Hinata smiled at him, looking sorry and amused.

"I came to ask you guys. Are you coming Hinata? Kiba?" Naruto said. Kiba's eyes lit up. "Of course we are." Kiba replied.

"Eh, guys..." Hinata interrupted "I won't be able to join you guys."

"What do you mean?" Naruto said, suddenly frowning. He looked cute even frowning.

"I have an engagement for this evening already." She said.

"You're getting engaged?" Kiba asked while Naruto also stared at her dumbly. Sasuke sighed. "It means she has to do something this evening already."

"Ohhh..." Kiba said, finally getting it. Hinata smiled apologetically.

"Turns out, I can't come either. My mom already has plans made for me." Sasuke said.

"Your mom? Really?" Kiba said, starting to laugh. "Bastard, you are so cute." Naruto laughed, imitating a kid Sasuke. Hinata also chuckled slightly.

"Whatever." Sasuke said, getting up. "We have a match soon. Don't be lazy and don't be stupid. Practice is Monday at the gym." Sasuke announced before walking off.

"Bastard thinks he's so good. Ne Hinata chan, you're going to cheerlead at the match, right?" Naruto said, turning to her.

"Yeah." she said, biting her apple. "You're gonna be great." Kiba said.

"And if anyone gives you trouble on the match, just tell us and we'll beat them up." Naruto said, punching the air.

"Thanks guys, but I'm sure it'll be fine." She said, standing up to go "Ino and Sakura are calling, I'll see you later."

As Hinata walked off, Naruto and Kiba noticed how everyone's eyes followed her. Especially the boys. "Hinata's popular, isn't she?" Kiba muttered. Naruto nodded.

She was. Because she was very beautiful, a cheerleader, a straight A student and also the Hyuga Heiress. She was kind, gentle, friendly and strong. How could people not like her? And she wasn't even aware of the fact that she was popular.

"...yes, I'll make sure I'm polite and pleasing to the sight." Hinata said for the hundredth time.

"And you have to make sure to get to know them. It'll be good for you in the future." Hana's voice rang through the phone.

"Mom, who are these friends again?" Hinata tried asking again.

"Hinata, darling, you'll know when you go there. But they're very close and old friends of your father and myself. They're also acquainted with you and they like you a lot."

"But why do I have to go there now? Why don't you guys visit them?" Hinata asked.

"Darling, we'll see them when we come to Japan. But for now, they are very eager to see you. I'm sure you'll love them." Hana said.

"Okay mom. I'll go get dressed now." Hinata said.

"Oh and Hinata, don't forget to wear your necklace." Hana said.

"My necklace? Why?" Hinata asked.

"Just wear it. And send me a picture of when you're done dressing." Hana said and clicked off. Hinata sighed as she put the phone down. What the hell was her mom thinking?

Why did she have to go to someone's house? Someone as in her parents' friends no less. What if she didn't like them? What if they didn't like her? What if things went horribly wrong?

Hinata shook her head as she went to take her dress out of her closet. It was a spaghetti strap dress, lilac in color and it reached her knees. She had dark wedges to go with the dress.

She took a shower and got dressed. She dried her hair and pulled it in a ponytail, which reached her middle back. After pulling on the wedges, she looked beautiful. As she looked for accessories, she remembered her mother's instructions.

She didn't know what was her mother's deal, but she took out her precious necklace all the same. It was a beautiful necklace with a silver chain and a pendent in the shape of a Japanese paper fan. The round part of the fan was red, with a small ruby embedded in it and the handle was white, made with tiny diamonds. The necklace sparkled and looked beautiful.

Her mother had given it to her when she was 14, telling her it was a gift from someone long ago. She had taken to wearing it all the time until her mother told her it was very important and had to be kept safely.

She looked at the necklace and she felt she had seen that particular paper fan sign somewhere else. Where was it? She couldn't remember. But she was sure she had seen it somewhere. She slipped it over her head and the fan rested on her neck, looking just right there, as if claiming her.

She snapped a picture of herself and sighed as she sent it to her mother.

She then stepped out of her room and walked downstairs, where Neji as watching wrestling. "Neji, I'm ready." She said stepping in front of him.

He looked up from the television and his eyes widened for a moment. He stared at her for a few more moments before turning back to the television.

"Seriously? Aren't you even going to tell me how I look?" she asked, angrily.

"You look beautiful. Now please step aside." He said, looking at the television from around her. She took the wire out of the socket and the screen went black.

"I was watching that!" he said.

"We're supposed to go to someone's house you know!" she said.

"Correction, not we, it's you." He said calmly, standing up. He was wearing his favorite black tux.

"Why are you so dressed up then?" She asked, raising her eye brow. He shrugged and walked out the door. She also followed, shaking her head.

They drove out of the house and were on their way. "Where are we going anyways? Mom wouldn't even tell me." Hinata said.

"You'll see." Neji said, smirking. Hinata rolled her eyes. This was just like Neji, to tease her.

"Fine I'm not talking to you." She said and turned away from him. Neji suppressed an urge to laugh. She was just so cute. Right now, she was trying to frown but she was pouting cutely instead. He shook his head and turned back to driving her.

They would reach the destination soon. Something told him she would be angry with him for a lot longer after tonight.

"What the...?" Was the first thing Sasuke said as he stepped inside his house.

It was decorated in a lavish way. The household things and couches had been moved from the lounge and living room to make space. There were long tables of snacks and punch. The servants were scurrying around.

"Mom?" he called.

Mikoto came into view and her face lit up as she saw him. She hurried to him. "Sasu-chan, you're finally here. I was wondering where you were." She said.

"Mom, what the hell is this?" he asked.

"We're having a dinner party." She said, looking at him in a confused manner. As if he was the one surprising her with a fucking party.

"I thought it was supposed to be a dinner, not a dinner party." He said.

"What's the fun in that? All our friends are going to be there for this." Mikoto said, smiling.

"Is dad coming?" he asked. "He's trying." Mikoto answered.

Sasuke sighed. "Just tell me when it's time for me to make an appearance." Sasuke said as he left for his room. He couldn't believe this. This was outrageous. Why hadn't anyone warned him so he could have gotten lost in a jungle until this was over?

He looked at his watch. It was 6. His mother had told him the dinner would start at 9. Just great. He decided he needed video games. Lots of them. He walked over to Itachi's room. It was closed. He knocked. No answer.

Damn. Even Itachi wasn't home yet. He thought of calling Naruto or the other guys but decided against it. This dinner would be embarrassing enough with his parent's friends. Besides, they would be hanging out.

He went to his room, slammed the door and decided to watch James Bond until it was time to get dressed for the damned dinner.

 _A while later_

Someone knocked on his door. "Hm?" he said, absently while his eyes were glued to the flat screen in his room.

"Sasuke." A voice called. He turned his head to see Izumi standing there, dressed in a strapless red dress and high heels with her hair came down to her lower back in waves. She was looking pretty but she didn't appeal to Sasuke, being Itachi's girl friend and fiancé.

"Izumi. I should have known you would come." He grumbled.

"Nice to see you too Sasu-chan." She grinned.

"Stop calling me that." He said, turning back to the screen.

"Okay okay. Your mother sent me here to tell you to get dressed. The guests are starting to arrive." Izumi said.

"Whatever." Sasuke said, turning the screen off.

"You're welcome." Izumi said as she walked out of his room. Sasuke sighed as he looked at the clock. It was 8 already? Had he watched television for 2 hours? He hadn't realized it.

He took a shower and after drying his hair, he dressed into his navy blue tux which made him stand out. He pulled on his combat boots (also black) and slid on his watch. He walked downstairs, into the lounge.

He had to admit, the lounge looked beautiful. But then again, his mother and Izumi worked together pretty well. He spotted Itachi, instructing something to the servants and made a beeline towards him.

"You knew it was a dinner party?" he asked him. Itachi turned to him and looked him up and down before breaking into a smirk.

"How would I know?"Itachi said, smiling at his brother.

"Cut the crap." Sasuke grumbled. Itachi smiled wider. "I know everything brother. I am the first born after all." Itachi said. Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

"So who is this fucking dinner party for?" He asked Itachi.

"You'll see." Itachi said before walking off to hug Izumi from behind. Sasuke turned away, feeling embarrassed. Did Itachi have to be so affectionate?

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He took it out to see a text from Naruto.

" _Having fun at Ichiraku, U?"_

Sasuke was tempted to tell him about the fucked up party but he didn't. Instead, he turned his phone off and walked towards his mother, who was calling him.

"Kodashi-san, you remember my youngest, Sasuke?" Mikoto said as she presented him to a middle aged woman and her husband proudly.

"Is this Sasuke? My, how he has grown. And so handsome too." The woman exclaimed and pulled his cheek.

This was one of the reasons Sasuke hated parties. Every family friend though it was a good idea to pull at his cheeks like he was still 5 years old. Sasuke rubbed his cheek as he stepped away from her while she babbled on about how little he used to be.

"I'll be at the door for the as the reception." He told his mother. He went to stand by the door, where he spotted Itachi too.

"Oh you're here to take my place? Thanks." Itachi said as he left to look for Izumi again. Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, chewing a rice ball he had picked from the snack table.

Sasuke saw two men with dark hair enter the room. It was Obito and Shisui, his favorite cousins. Sure Obito was also his teacher but...

"Sasuke." Shisui said, as he came to shake hands with him. Sasuke smirked as he greeted them.

"It's good to see you guys here. I was thinking maybe it was going to be women only." Sasuke said, shuddering at the thought.

"Aww, look at all the girls eyeing our little cousin, Shisui." Obito teased. Sasuke shoved him playfully. "You should go see Itachi." Sasuke said.

"Of course we're going to see our favorite cousin." Shisui smirked. "Screw you." Sasuke said, smirking and punching Shisui.

"Kidding, kidding." Obito said as he laughed. Sasuke also smirked while Shisui chuckled.

"No, really though" Shisui said, before they both ran away. Sasuke shook his heads. Were they really grownups? They sure didn't act that way.

Members of the family and friends continued to arrive, greet him (or pull his cheeks) Izumi had also come and teased him again. What could he do though, she was family.

"When is the guest of honor arriving anyways?" Shisui muttered to Mikoto, stuffing his face with chocolates.

"She'll be here soon." Mikoto answered contentedly.

Sasuke's ears perked up. The guest of honor was a she? He swore if she was another friend of his mother he would...

"She's here." Mikoto said as her face lit up.

Sasuke looked at the door which had just opened. There stood Neji Hyuga, looking a little embarrassed. "Did you dye your hair? I swear it was another color before?" Mikoto said as she hugged Neji and everyone looked at the guest of honor.

"Um...I'm...I'm a boy. I'm not her." Neji said, turning red.

"Oh..." Mikoto said, as her face turned blank "I'm really sorry."

Sasuke fought the urge to roll on the floor laughing. He started to chuckle instead. Serves Neji right for keeping hair so long.

"Then where is Hinata?" Mikoto asked and Sasuke stopped laughing. What the...? Why would Hinata be here...

Suddenly, Hinata walked in the room. And Sasuke's mind went blank. He could only stare at her.

She was dressed in a short Lavender dress, reaching her knees. She had her hair in a ponytail and she wore wedge shoes, which made her look taller than she was. She looked beautiful. And adorning her pale, beautiful neck was a necklace which...

Wait a minute...was that the Uchiha fan on her neck? How did she get it? Those type of accessories were only given as engagements tokens in the Uchiha clan. He knew because Itachi had given Izumi a ring like that. Did that mean she was engaged to an Uchiha? Was he there right now? Who was he?

He looked around the room to find every boy looking at her, they all had poker faces (an Uchiha specialty) but their some of their noses were bleeding or they had turned dangerously red. Somehow, Sasuke wanted to hit them and tell them to look away.

But one of them was her fiancé and Sasuke wished he knew who it was so he could...

Mikoto looked at Hinata in awe. She really had grown up. She looked so beautiful in her dress and the necklace looked like it was made for her. Technically, it was but still...

She looked over to see Sasuke also staring at her. She smirked in a satisfied way. She made a note to compliment Hana about the dress choice.

"Everyone..." Mikoto called as everyone looked at them "I present to you, the guest of Honor. Hyuga Hinata, daughter of Hyuga Hiashi and the heiress to Hyuga Corp. Also, fiancé to my youngest...Sasuke Uchiha."

 **Author notes** : Haha, anyone see that coming? If you did, you're someone of my mind. Also, excuse me for not uploading earlier, internet problems.

There are still one or two chapters that are plot twists and there are also fillers. Comment your thoughts and suggestion and also do spread out the story. It will be appreciated.


	7. The Bonds Forgotten

Hinata's mind went blank the second the announcement was made. Had she heard the woman correctly? Fiancé? To Sasuke? What the...

Her eyes had found Sasuke, standing in the corner who stared right back in his blank way. Everyone was looking at them now, some of them surprised while the others annoyed. Right now, she was being led to the center by the woman, who was called Mikoto and was Sasuke and Itachi's mother. Hinata had hoped her fiancé would be a nice person but this was beyond her wildest dreams.

Of course. She had seen the stupid fan at the Uchiha Corp. She had also seen it as a cufflink on Sasuke's shirt. How could she be so dumb?

She had never thought the stoic, handsome, popular, smart and cold Uchiha would be her fiancé. How could this be happening? Why hadn't her parents told her? What was she supposed to do now? She was talking to a girl named Izumi right now.

She seemed really nice and she was actually making Hinata feel a little at home. "I'm Itachi's fiancé. You're Sasuke's." Izumi said. Hinata didn't like the way it made her feel like she belonged to Sasuke. "They're brothers...so we're something like sisters, right?"

Hinata smiled with difficulty and nodded. "Yay! I've always wanted a sister." Izumi continued to talk on.

Mikoto suddenly came up to them again. "Hinata, there you are. Sasuke, say hi." Mikoto instructed. Hinata looked up abruptly and took in Sasuke's face which betrayed no emotions. Had he known before this? She could not guess. He did not look smug or even shocked.

"Good evening Hyuga." He said, looking at her as if he was gazing into her soul.

"Good Evening Sasuke." She said. They looked into each other's eyes, sizing the other up. Hinata broke eye contact first.

Suddenly, she noticed Izumi and Mikoto were gone. The music was playing in the background and people were dancing now, before the food arrived.

Sasuke did not say anything. He just stared at her necklace. As if he was remembering something.

"You gave me my watch...on my 6th birthday." He stated.

"What watch?" Hinata said surprised at what he said. He pointed to the handsome watch he was wearing right now and always wore to school.

"That's why you looked familiar on the first day." He said, more to himself than her.

"Look Sasuke..." she started when he cut her off.

"I gave you the necklace." he said, touching her necklace, fingers brushing over her neck. She gasped and stepped away. Then, she remembered.

 _"Sasuke, please sit still." Mikoto said to her 6 year old son who was wriggling under her hold. She was trying to tie his bow tie properly but he wouldn't sit still._

 _"I want to go to Nii-San." Sasuke said, with a pout._

 _"Just a second." She said, finally doing it properly. "There..." she said "Now you look like a gentleman."_

 _Sasuke smiled brightly and she let him go. He hugged her and ran off to find Itachi. It was Sasuke's 6th birthday and he was very excited. It was nearly time for the party to begin and Mikoto had made sure everything was okay._

 _Itachi, her 14 year old son, had helped her in everything and had left a while ago to get ready. Mikoto was already dressed in a red dress that made her look beautiful._

 _She had made sure Fugaku; her husband had come home early for their son's birthday. This birthday was very special for Sasuke, even though he did not realize it yet._

 _She glanced at the clock. 7:45. The guests would start arriving at 8 and she would be very busy. She sighed and made her way to the kitchen to see the preparations._

 _"NII SAN!" Sasuke called out as he wandered in the hall way. Where was he? Sasuke wanted to show him how good he looked now that mother had dressed him up._

 _"Sasuke..." Itachi said as he walked out of his room. "Nii san, look at me!" Sasuke said, excitedly._

 _Itachi was dressed in a black tuxedo and looked amazing himself. Sasuke's tuxedo was navy blue. Their pale skin stood out against the dark outfits and their hair colors._

 _"You look great Sasu." Itachi said, poking his forehead._

 _"Ouch." Sasuke grumbled, while Itachi chuckled._

 _"You know you like it when I do that." Itachi said, teasingly._

 _"No I don't" Sasuke said "I'm old now. I'm 6. You should treat me like a grown up."_

 _"Ah...how could I forget?" Itachi said, trying not to laugh at Sasuke's face, which tried to look "older" instead, was making him look cuter._

 _"Nii san, Mother said special guests would be arriving today." Sasuke said, curious._

 _"Yes Sasuke. You will meet them when the party begins." Itachi said, not giving any kind of clue. Itachi started walking down the hall way and Sasuke followed, still asking him about the guests._

 _It was half past 8 and most of the guests had arrived. Sasuke was playing with Naruto, who had arrived with his parents, and a couple of other kids his age. Itachi had left when a certain brunette had arrived, taking a rose with him._

 _Even though he had tried to hate her for taking his brother's attention and affection, Sasuke could not dislike Izumi. She was sweet. Not to mention beautiful. And it was better her, than any other girl. Even now, she was grinning as Itachi said something and looked at her weirdly. He looked at Sasuke like that when he was happy. Sasuke decided Itachi must be happy with her right now._

 _"Oi, are you playing?" Naruto said, shaking Sasuke. "No." he said and went to stand away from the children._

 _His parents were talking to guests and a lot of people had arrived. But the special guests had not. Sasuke was still very curious. Who were they? When would they come? It made him feel slightly irritated that they were not here yet._

 _Suddenly, a few people entered the hall and Mikoto and Fugaku looked their way. Mikoto's face lit up as they made their way towards her and Fugaku. The guests were a tall man in a three piece suit and long hair, tied in a low ponytail along with a woman with dark blue hair and fair skin. The woman hugged his mother while the men shook hands._

 _Sasuke almost didn't notice the little girl standing, holding the man's hand. She looked his age standing there. Sasuke saw Itachi make his way towards them and shake hands with the grownups and crouch down to face the little girl._

 _"Sasuke, please come here." Sasuke heard his mother. He made his way towards them. "Sasuke, this is my friend Hyuga Hana and her husband Hyuga Hiashi." Mikoto introduced._

 _Sasuke looked at them. They were smiling. He smiled back. He noticed their eyes were different. Pretty. They were lavender in color and clear._

 _"Sasuke, you have grown so much." Hana said, hugging him. He smiled a little, now looking at the girl. She had midnight blue-ish hair like her mother, the same eyes as them too. Except hers were really pretty and soft. Comforting. He wanted to keep looking at them._

 _Her skin was pale and she was beautiful. She was wearing a beautiful blue kimono in different shades of blue. Mikoto saw him staring at her and smiled._

 _"This is their daughter. Hyuga Hinata. She is your age. Hinata, this is Sasuke." Itachi said._

 _Hinata...what a pretty name, Sasuke thought. Hinata looked at him and smiled her cheeks pink. "O-Ohayo U-Uchiha San." She said._

 _"Sasuke, can you show Hinata around tonight?" Fugaku asked. Sasuke nodded. He offered her his hand which she took after a little hesitation._

 _They both walked away from the grown- ups, who for some reason were smiling. Sasuke led her towards the seats and indicated her to sit._

 _"Are you six?" he asked, sitting down after her._

 _"Not yet." She said._

 _"I'm older then you then." He said, proudly._

 _"Y-yes. It is y-your six-sixth birthday, right?"_

 _"It is. But why do you stutter?"_

 _"I-I don't kn-know Uchiha San."_

 _"Call me Sasuke."_

 _She nodded and her cheeks turned pink again. She's a shy one, he thought. But he did not mind much._

 _"Do you want to play?" he asked._

 _She nodded. "I do."_

 _He took her hand, making her flinch a little and led her to the children. Naruto and Sakura looked at them approach._

 _"Who's this?" Naruto asked, grinning at Hinata, at which she blushed. Sasuke pushed Naruto back slightly before introducing Hinata to everyone._

 _"This is Hinata Hyuga. She's a new friend." He said._

 _Sakura and Ino immediately came around her and started talking. Hinata's eyes dartedto Naruto and he grinned good naturedly._

 _Sasuke, being the responsible kid, took her hand and made sure to keep her next to him during the games that continued._

 _He found out that he actually liked her cute stutter, her soft melodious voice and her soothing eyes. He also liked holding her soft hand and hearing her soft and beautiful giggle. He found out he liked Hinata Hyuga, unlike other girls he had met. Because she did not cling to him like other girls._

 _Finally, it was time to cut the cake. By that time, Sasuke was having the greatest time of his life playing with his friends._

 _He obeyed when his father called him forward to cut the cake and everyone stopped talking to watch the birthday boy cut the cake. Sasuke made his way to the table with Hinata's hand still in his own. Other girls looked at his hand longingly but he ignored them._

 _Hinata tried to stay back but she could do little but follow Sasuke's lead. Sasuke cut the cake and everyone clapped and Sasuke actually smiled widely. He looked at Hinata, who looked at him with happiness and her signature blush._

 _Sasuke felt strange. It was...very strange. His stomach felt...fluttery? Oh Man, it must have been the cake. He looked away from Hinata and found his stomach much better._

 _Then, after everyone had eaten (Hinata still by his side and now talking to him comfortably), it was time to open the presents. Everybody had brought him presents. Hinata was the last one to give him the gift, being shy._

 _"This is for you, Sasuke-kun." She said, looking at him and smiling slightly._

 _"Thank you Hinata." He liked the feel of her name._

 _He opened the small box and found a watch in there; it was beautiful with precious stones. But it was also too big for him._

 _"How will I wear this?"_

 _"You can wear it when you're bigger." Hinata suggested._

 _"I love it." He said, genuinely. He surprised even himself by throwing himself on her and giving her a hug. She giggled and hugged him back._

 _Sasuke pulled back and saw his mother and Hana-chan give each other strange looks of triumph. His mother pulled him close and handed him something._

 _"Sasuke, you must give this to Hinata-sama after I excuse you. Be sure you are alone."_

 _It was a necklace. With a silver chain and an Uchiha fan pendent at the center. The necklace was quite expensive._

 _"Why must I give this to her?" he asked, confused._

 _"I will tell you later. Do as I say."_

 _Sasuke nodded. After a while, the guests started leaving. Sakura tried to kiss him good bye but he hid under the couch. Almost all of the guests left. Among the few remaining were the Hyugas._

 _Hinata was sitting next to Sasuke right now, laughing at the cartoons he was playing. The elders were talking and there were no other kids around._

 _Sasuke and Hinata were alone in the hall. Sasuke suddenly remembered the necklace._

 _"Ne Hinata..." He said._

 _She looked at him, her eyes full of amusement and also curiosity._

 _"...I wanted to give you something." He said, pulling the necklace out of his pocket._

 _"What's this?" she asked, curious._

 _"It's a necklace. I hope you like it." He said, smiling a little._

 _She eyed it with confusion and then happiness when he said the last part. "It's for me?" she asked, happy. He nodded and put it around her neck as best as he could. He was so asking his mother what this was about._

 _"I love it! Arigato!" she said as she hugged him with happiness._

 _Sasuke was still in a daze from her hug when someone coughed from behind them. Sasuke looked up to see Itachi. He frowned while Itachi looked like he was trying not to laugh._

 _"Your parents are calling Hinata-Chan." Itachi said. Hinata blushed and pulled away from Sasuke. She got off the sofa._

 _Sasuke and Itachi followed her outside. "Hinata" her mother said, smiling and holding out her hand._

 _"I hope you had fun." Mikoto said._

 _Hinata nodded her head in happiness. Everyone smiled. "Say Good bye." Hiashi said._

 _"Good bye Uchiha San. Itachi-kun. Sasuke-kun." Her gaze lingered on him and then she turned away, blushing._

 _"We had a great time." Hana said._

 _"Yeah, see you later Fugaku." Hiashi said._

 _Fugaku nodded and the Hyugas departed._

 _Sasuke suddenly realized how tired he was. He had a good time but still. "Time for bed Sasuke." His mother said, as he yawned._

 _"Mother..." he said drowsily while she carried him to bed "...why did I give Hinata that necklace?"_

 _His mother smiled softly. "Because she is your fiancée my dear."_

 _"What's that?"_

 _"It means you will marry her when you both grow up."_

 _"So will I see her again if I am her fiancé?" he asked. His mother smiled and nodded before kissing his forehead._

 _Sasuke's eyes closed before he could hear her out completely. That was his first encounter with the Hyuga heiress and Sasuke dreamed of her._

On hearing the announcement, Sasuke initial reaction had been shock. This had to be a mistake. He could not be the fiancé of Hyuga Hinata, the beautiful, smart and interesting heiress. _He_ could not be _her_ fiancé.

His second reaction was a chill of excitement and joy. _He_ was her fiancé. She was his. She belonged to him. That beautiful girl in his peripheral vision, the one everyone stared at lustfully, was his. She wasn't going to be a challenge anymore. She wasn't a fan girl and she was just great.

His third and most sensible reaction had been anger. How could they do that to him? How could they just engage him to someone as a kid no less, and expect him to be okay with it. It was his life and he wanted to do what he like in it. How could they do it and not even ask him. Hell, not even tell him. How could they misuse his innocence like this? How could they make him give her that damned necklace like that as a kid, without telling him what it meant?

How could they? He would not go through with it. He did not like her. She did not like him. It was unfair, not only for him but to her as well. But hey, at least her parents had the decency to tell her she was engaged.

He looked at her as she remembered it. Their meeting from 11 years ago. The first time they had met. She had told him she had moved to America as a child. That's why she never met him again until this year.

He watched her remember and look at him, with recognition and another emotion, he could not name. He just stood there, in front of her.

"Why aren't you both dancing?" Itachi asked, as he passed them by, dancing with Izumi. Sasuke did not reply. He did not trust himself to reply. He would deal with this brother and parents later.

He did not ask her, but took her waist. She did not protest. Sasuke saw Neji smirk at them from a distance. So he knew too. What a fucktard. Along with everyone else involved in this fucked up engagement.

Hinata put her arms around her 'fiancé' as they danced. Everyone was looking at them dance in the center of the room. The boys were scowling and the girls were also unhappy. The elders however, looked perfectly happy seeing the couple.

"Did you know this before?" Hinata asked as he spun her around.

"No." he said, continuing the dance. They did not talk until he dance was over. He was a good dancer, she had to admit. He still looked bothered though.

"Do you want to go outside?" she asked. He looked at her for a moment before nodding. He walked out and she followed him out of the room.

"So...what now?" she asked as they both sat on the bench in their garden. It was a little cold but whatever. He did not say anything for a few minutes.

"I'm not going to marry you. This was not our choice." He broke the silence. Hinata nodded. She knew the feeling.

"Okay." she whispered.

"I'm going to break off this engagement when we're handling our own businesses and we're adults. Hopefully by the time we're 18 or 19." He explained further.

She nodded and looked at him. He was already looking at her, face dead serious. She just noticed how dark his eyes were and how he looked like a part of the night as he sat in front of her.

"Do we tell our parents?" she asked. He shook his head.

They were both quiet for some more minutes. "Do you like someone?" she asked, surprising even herself. He looked a little surprised but shook his head.

"But that doesn't mean I'm going to marry you. No one can force me. We should...we should date other people and live like normal teens."

"So we don't tell our friend either." She said. He nodded. She didn't say anything for a while again. They just stared up at the cloudy sky.

"Are we still going to hang out sometimes?" she asked, suddenly.

Honestly, he did not know. Would it be okay to hang out? Would it make their parents suspicious if they did not hang out? And they studied in the same school and shared majority classes, they had to interact.

"Yeah, we will." He said. He didn't look at her because she looked too beautiful out here in the dark. He sighed. This was too much for him.

"Let's go back." he said standing. She followed suit and they both entered the room. Neji was talking to Mikoto about something and she waved them over.

"Hinata-chan, you can't drive yet?" Mikoto asked. Hinata shook her head. Everyone around them had started to eat and were settled down.

"Neji was just telling me how he was going on a weekly exchange to another school in Tokyo and how he won't be able to drive you to school and back. I told him it was no problem because Sasuke can drive her. It'll give them a chance to hang out and know each other. Right Sasuke?"

If looks could kill, Neji and Mikoto would be dead. But Sasuke nodded nevertheless. Hinata made it a point to not look at Sasuke. It would just be awkward.

"Neji also told me you guys share some classes." This time, Hinata glared at Neji who turned away instantly. She did not miss the smirk on his face though. He was so dead. She would make sure the whole school knew he used Marshmallow and Candy shampoo for his long hair.

"I'm actually really hungry. Why don't we eat?" she said, interrupting Mikoto from talking further about Sasuke and herself.

"Of course. But this is too much hassle. Sasuke, would you take Hinata to your room? I'll send you something to eat there." Mikoto said.

They both stared at her as if she was crazy. Okay maybe she was a little crazy but...

"No thanks. We'll eat in the kitchen." Sasuke said. He caught sight of the 50 female cousins and fan girls waiting for him there and changed his mind instantly.

"ACTUALLY, we'll eat in my room." He took Hinata's hand and led her to his room. He ignored the looks from everyone. Especially Itachi, Obito and Shisui, who were smirking or wriggling their eyebrows suggestively.

He walked into his room and shut the door behind him. His room was spacious. Very spacious. It had a king sized bed with a dark blue bedspread. The room was painted navy blue and off white-ish. It made a person feel calm. There was a huge, huge closet in one wall. Another wall had a book shelf which had trophies on top.

His room was not messy but not too neat either. There was a side table picture frames and a lamp on top. The study table overlooked the garden and had writing materials, papers, lamps and paper weights on it along with a vase. The chair was a rotating one and looked a little worn from use.

There was a plasma screen television on the wall opposite to the bed, which was in the center. On the side was a smaller screen and it had controllers and a disk player attached to it. There were two plush chairs in front.

Sasuke watched Hinata look around his room and he had to suppress a smirk when he saw admiration in her eyes. "Ninja storm 4?" she said, breaking the silence and glancing at him.

"You know what game it is?" he asked, a little surprised. Somehow, she didn't look like someone who played video games. Then again, there was a lot of stuff you could not guess about her from first glance.

"I play with Neji." She said, shrugging. "Are you good?" he asked.

"I'm not too bad." She said, modestly.

"How about we play it then? You can show me how good you are." He suggested, since there was no alternative activity he would prefer right now. She shrugged and he motioned for her to sit on the left plush chair.

She took the controller in her hands and he started the game. The game started and the two started pushing buttons vigorously. Sasuke was pretty good at it and he smirked, imagining how she would be beaten in a short moment.

Hinata, however, it appeared was bluffing. She said she was not bad. She was amazing. Sasuke was surprised when she kicked his ass and won without trouble.

"I won!" she said as she smiled excitedly. He stared at her. He was best at video games among all the guys at school. How had she, a cheerleader and a girl, beaten him?

"I want a rematch." He decided. He nodded and he restarted the game. He made sure to attack perfectly. Ha, she wouldn't win now. But then, she suddenly performed the combo move and Sasuke just died.

"Not bad my ass. You're cheating." He said, growling. She suddenly started laughing. And he had to stop everything because that laughter was so beautiful. It was not annoying or loud or ugly like the other girls. It was genuine, nice and cute.

"I'm not cheating Sasuke, I'm just playing." She said, clamping her mouth shut as he frowned and another giggle threatened to erupt.

Suddenly, Mikoto entered their room with food. She stopped as she saw them. "Are you both...playing video games?" she asked.

"What else are we supposed to do?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"Oh I don't know..." Mikoto trailed off. 'Maybe something like being romantic or talking about each other and preferable getting lost in each other's eyes?' she thought.

"Thank you for the food Mrs. Uchiha." Hinata said, as she eyed the tray. "That's Mikoto and it's no trouble at all." She handed Sasuke the food.

Mikoto left, gushing on how cute they both looked. Sasuke and Hinata on the other hand, dug into the food hungrily while playing video games. Sasuke noticed how Hinata didn't hold back on the food, trying to impress him. She was as natural as she could be.

It was funny and annoying at the same time to get your butt kicked by a girl in a dress. A beautiful girl who is your fiancé but you don't love her, that is.

After beating Sasuke for the fiftieth time, Hinata was laughing and Sasuke was sighing, turning off the game when someone knocked on their door. "What?" Sasuke asked.

"It's been 2 hours in here lovebirds." Izumi said, leaning against the door.

"2 hours?" Hinata asked, horrified. She hadn't realized it, with her having fun and all. It was strange how comfortable she was playing video games with Sasuke and laughing about it.

"Yeah and the dinner is kinda over and Neji wants to go." Izumi said. She looked a little tired by now. Sasuke decided not to test her patience.

"Um..Thanks for telling me." Hinata said, dusting her clothes and standing up. Sasuke also stood up. "I had a great time." She told him.

"Yeah whatever." He said. Although he was smirking. Hinata smiled and noticed Izumi was staring at them both. Sasuke raised his eye brow at her.

"Well, do something romantic already. Kiss her goodbye." Izumi said.

Hinata smiled awkwardly when she heard that and Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, which happened whenever he lost a game to Hinata and was annoyed.

"I'll pass." He muttered. Hinata didn't know why but that felt kind of bad. She smiled bravely at them both.

"Sasuke, you're hurting Hinata" Izumi growled, punching his head.

"Ouch. Okay. Bye Hinata." He said, suddenly gathering her in his arms and hugging her. She was leaning against him now, her arms on his chest while he had his arms around her waist. She smiled and put her arms around her neck, to show an affectionate hug to Izumi who was fan girling.

Sasuke noticed that she smelled really nice. Hinata had a notion on how they fit while they were hugging. She blushed a little before moving her arms away. Sasuke noticed and let go.

"See you at school." She said, walking out of his room.

"Yeah..." he said to himself as his door shut, thinking how he had actually had a good time.

Hinata was not talking to him no matter what he said. He knew he had been a bad friend and an even worst cousin but he could not help it. Hiashi had strictly forbidden him from saying anything.

"Look Hinata..." Neji began. She had ignored him so far and there was no saying she would talk to him even now but he had to try. He could not handle his little hime being upset with him.

"How could you Neji?" Hinata said, her voice trembling slightly. He cringed by the amount of sadness and anger in it. She was speaking in a very low voice and the last time she had been like this was when they were 6 and 7 years old and he had ripped her doll while tugging it, trying to tease her. Needless to say, he had spent two weeks in the hospital because of her.

"...Uncle told me not to tell you it was Sasuke." He felt a little guilty but he could blame his uncle for it. He just didn't want to die so soon. At least his uncle had lived a long enough and full enough life. He could surely forgive Neji for wanting the same.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

"...I...uh...maybe a month?" he asked. She looked into his eyes and he cringed again. Man, she was scary like this.

"You couldn't have given me a heads up? Do you know how I felt when they announced it? How awkward it was? He's my classmate. And you didn't even tell me about the exchange program till Mikoto told me."

"Hina...I'm sorry for everything." He really was. He should have warned her or something. He loved her more than anything and only wanted the best for her.

"I am still not going to talk to you." She said as she got up angrily and left the couch for her room. Neji gulped. This was going to be a long couple of days.

Author notes: Do comment and vote. Your comments make my day. Also, I would really appreciate it if your introduced the story to other readers who are interested or just spread it out? Thank You.

Leave me your thoughts. Till next time. Sayonara.


	8. Before the Match

Sasuke had to admit, he was a little happy his fiancé (soon to be ex-fiancé) wasn't a complete loser. At least she had not embarrassed herself. The girls had won after all, with Naruto and Kiba bitching about how it was unfair they had to spend all their money on a fancy dinner which the girls insisted on.

When Hinata had scored the highest, Sasuke could not suppress his smirk. At least she was good for something. He made a metal note to not challenger her in bowling again.

After Dinner, he'd gotten coffee for himself and Hinata while driving back home. The others had left together, snapping at each other. Hinata was sleeping in the car as he drove home, refreshed after drinking black coffee.

He glanced at her. She was sleeping peacefully. He decided to turn on the radio to jerk her awake, smirking evilly. What the hell was he thinking? He was not 5 years old. He sighed and kept driving like an adult.

When he reached home it was 9 o clock. He shook Hinata. "We're home." He announced. He didn't realize how he had said it for the both of them like that.

Hinata furrowed her brows as she tried to keep sleeping but something annoying kept nudging her. "Get up loser, I'm not carrying you inside if that's what you're thinking." said a male voice. Hinata realized she was still in the car as she sat up groggily.

"Wos happening?" she asked rubbing her eyes.

"We're home sleeping beauty." Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he got out of the car. Hinata also unbuckled her seat belt and followed him inside.

"You sure took your time? How was your date?" Mikoto asked.

Sasuke looked at Hinata, expecting her to reply. "It was amazing." Hinata said, a genuine smile on her face. She had even found out what the incident was that Sasuke and Naruto had talked about.

Turned out, Sasuke and Naruto had been each other's first kiss by accident. Half the people thought they were gay. It had taken them years to convince everyone they were not gay. Hinata had laughed till she cried when she heard this and imagined the two.

"Where did you go?" Mikoto asked, looking at Sasuke's poker face suspiciously.

"The Blue Moon Hotel." Hinata said, smiling. It was true. The boys had to treat them at the most expensive restaurant in town.

"You guys went there? Is that the new expensive hotel on the other side of Konoha?" Mikoto asked happily.

Hinata nodded. "Wow, Sasuke, you sure went all out. I like it." Mikoto said, eyeing Hinata's happy face. "He did." Hinata agreed.

Sasuke shrugged. "I thought I might as well listen to you now."

"Aww…..so, did you kiss him as thanks?" Mikoto nudged Hinata with a mischievous smile on her face.

"She did not in fact." Sasuke smirked as Hinata frowned at him.

"Well what are you two waiting for then?" Mikoto asked, pushing Hinata slightly to Sasuke. Hinata glared at him before walking to him until they were a few centimeters away.

Sasuke smirked, hands still in his pocket. Mikoto was almost squealing like a fan girl. "Do it!" she encouraged.

Hinata closed her eyes and moved her lips to kiss Sasuke. He wondered how she would kiss him this time, while she was not drunk.

Hinata suddenly moved and kissed his cheek lightly before looking at Mikoto. "Done."

Mikoto looked crestfallen. "You two are no fun." Hinata giggled while the spot where Hinata had kissed him felt hot on his face. What the fuck? Had she seriously kissed his cheek?

"I'm going to bed now." Sasuke said, raising his hand as farewell.

"I'd better go to sleep too now." Hinata said, yawning again and following Sasuke.

"Good night." Mikoto called, going into the lounge because Itachi and Fugaku still had not returned from office. She would wait up as much as she could.

Meanwhile Sasuke suddenly stopped walking in the hall, making Hinata bump into him. "What the hell?" she asked.

"Nice evading my mother Hyuga." He smirked.

"I know. I could not kiss you, you know." Hinata said, pretending to be a heartless woman.

"You know you told me you could not kiss me because you had a fiancé. What about now?" he asked "You were loyal before. Are you going to date Naruto despite me?"

"Yes. You're the one who said we should live like normal teenagers. I guess you should also get a girlfriend." Hinata said, thoughtfully.

Yeah right. In a million years maybe. He didn't need a girlfriend right now. "Maybe later." He said as he walked into his room.

"Good night to you too." Hinata muttered as she went into her room to sleep.

Sasuke changed his clothes before sleeping. He felt the packet of pictures in his pocket. He took it out and saw all the pictures again. He looked at the last picture of himself and Hinata before shaking his head and throwing the packet inside his drawers. He left to change, slamming the bathroom door behind him.

Sasuke opened his eyes as sunlight filtered through his window curtains and fell on his eyes. Fucking curtains. He'd forgotten to close them last night. He cursed as he tripped over his beanie chair and closed the curtains, making the room go dark. He was about to go back to sleep when he noticed it was 11 a.m.

He sighed. God, the match was in the evening. But they had to be at school at 1 o clock. He could sleep but he'd rather get his day started. He left his room for a shower.

A hot shower refreshed him as he brushed his teeth and combed his hair, despite it sticking up again. He applied some deodorant and slipped on his black turtleneck and jeans. He walked downstairs. His father was on the couch, watching a baseball match with Itachi, who was texting something, probably Izumi.

"Hey." Itachi said as he noticed him come downstairs.

"Hn." Sasuke said, walking into the kitchen. Mikoto was nowhere in sight. "Where's mom?" he asked aloud as he poured some cereal for himself.

He walked in the living room and sat down on one of the chairs. "Your mother left with your fiancé for shopping two hours ago." Fugaku announced with a sadistic smirk. If anyone knew what a pain Mikoto could be while shopping, it was him.

"Didn't she say she was going to shop with Hy-Hinata in the summers?" Sasuke wondered outloud.

"Apparently, Hinata slipped out that there was a party after the match. So Mom decided that was enough reason to go shopping with her favorite daughter." Itachi smirked as he sent another text.

"She doesn't have a daughter." Sasuke sighed.

"I'd like to see you tell _her_ that." Fugaku said, flipping the channels now. Suddenly, it stopped on wrestling. Itachi's phone slipped out of his grasp, Sasuke stopped eating and Fugaku's face lit up. The three looked at each other, knowing what this meant.

"Mom's not home." Itachi observed, his eyes lightening up.

"You mean-?" Sasuke said, smiling a little.

"Yeah we can do it. I won't tell if you guys won't!" Fugaku said. the others nodded. Sasuke left his bowl on the kitchen table before grabbing a seat next to his father on the couch.

Wrestling. Oh, how they loved that sport. They had always watched American wrestling with passion. The moves, the curses and the drama. Until they started practicing the moves on each other. Even Fugaku. That was when Mikoto banned them from watching wrestling ever again.

They had protested, tried to smuggle, tried to watch it on internet but she was always there. Now, she was not here and they could watch wrestling again.

Ah, the joys of having male time with others, Sasuke thought as he relaxed and heard Itachi turn off his phone. Fugaku whooped as one of the wrestlers hit the other with a chair on the head and Itachi and Sasuke yelled together.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Sometimes, Sasuke did like to be expressive and just….normal. Seemed like his serious brother and stoic father thought so too.

Hinata smiled nervously as Mikoto bought her, literally the 30th dress of the day. "Mrs.-mother, I think I have enough dresses now."

"Do you?" Mikoto said, eyeing Hinata, who was carrying almost 19 shopping bags. She observed her before her face lighting up.

"Perfect! Now we can go buy shoes and accessories." Mikoto said leading Hinata to another floor of the mall. Hinata wondered if she spent this much money on everything. No wonder Sasuke never thought before spending his money.

"But I already have shoes and accessories." Hinata cried to deaf ears. Mikoto did not listen to her protests. She had literally been swiping her credit card in every shop they visited. So it was true then, the Uchiha really were filthy rich. Much like Hinata's own family.

After three hours of shopping, at 12 o clock, Hinata did not know about Mikoto but her feet and arms were killing her. She was carrying almost 30 bags while Mikoto carried the other 20. Hinata returned a tired smile as Mikoto smiled brightly.

"Let's eat something, Ne?" she asked Hinata who nodded gladly. They went to a small hotel and set their bags on the chairs around them. They took a booth and a waiter came towards them.

"What would you like miss?" he asked them both. "I'd like fries and a milkshake." Mikoto said.

"What about you?" he asked Hinata who replied with a green tea order.

"No wonder you're so thin. Make the same order as me for her. My poor baby is starving." Mikoto said, shooing the waiter away. He shrugged and walked off. Hinata sighed.

"Did you have fun?" Mikoto asked, looking at her expectantly. To be honest, Hinata had. Mikoto was a bit too energetic and generous but she was also funny and caring.

"Yes mom." Hinata said genuinely. Mikoto studied the engagement necklace on Hinata's beautiful neck, gleaming beautifully. Hinata had been wearing it ever since she came to the Uchiha compounds.

"You know I had that made for you when you were born." Mikoto smiled reminiscently. Hinata looked a little surprised and Mikoto chuckled.

"Why?" Hinata asked.

"Well, Hana was always my best friend. Then, she married Hiashi and I married Fugaku, who were also friends. It was the perfect situation. Then I had Itachi and then Sasuke but your mother had some complication. Then, when she had you, I was so happy, especially since you had been such a difficult birth."

Mikoto noticed Hinata paying her all her attention. "So I went and had that made for you, because I had decided that this perfect baby would be my daughter someday. And Sasuke was your age so naturally we all agreed to get you both engaged so you would be promised to someone."

Hinata touched her necklace fondly. She did love it but…

"Why didn't you wait for us to grow up?" Hinata found herself asking.

Mikoto eyed her carefully before saying "Because we thought you'd like each other like us. And we were right, weren't we? You're happy, right?" Mikoto asked, taking her hand in her own one.

Hinata looked into her soft eyes and for a second she thought of telling her everything but eventually decided against it. "Yes." She said, trying to give her a fond smile.

Mikoto believed her because she changed the topic as their food arrived. "Do you like your dresses?"

"I do. But I still think there was no need to buy so many." Hinata giggled. Mikoto loved hearing her laugh.

"Of course it was. Wait till your mother sees these dresses. She will be so jealous of you." Mikoto squealed. Hinata laughed and Mikoto smiled, contented.

Sasuke heard the door click. His father quickly changed the channel and turned the TV off, Itachi suddenly trying to turn his phone on while his father got a newspaper out of nowhere, so Sasuke glared at them before making it seem like he was just walking out of the kitchen when his mother came into view.

Not exactly her, but the bags she and Hinata were carrying. Mikoto came and dropped them all on the living room table. Hinata put them neatly on the floor and the table.

"Jesus, Mikoto, did you buy the whole market?" Fugaku asked.

"What if I did?" Mikoto asked in a tad bit annoyed voice.

"I think your purchases are lovely mother." Itachi said, earning a smile for himself. Sasuke came up to them, smirking a little.

"You suck-up, you haven't even seen the purchases." Sasuke said. Itachi stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. Wow…real mature Itachi.

"Wait a second…you didn't take my credit card did you?" Fugaku asked, slightly alarmed.

"Was I supposed to take Sasuke's?" she glared. Fugaku's eyes widened as he face palmed himself.

"Woman I swear if you've spent all my money again." Fugaku said, turning to Hinata "Did you have fun though daughter?"

"I did Mr. Uchiha." Hinata smiled. Itachi got up and offered her his place on the couch. She obliged happily.

"I know how much she likes to walk." Itachi said, kindly.

"Fugaku, you should also give me your seat." Mikoto reprimanded before turning to her younger son, who was chuckling.

"Sasu, baby I want you to take these bags to Hinata's room." Mikoto said.

"What? They're 40 to 50 bags." Sasuke said. "50." Hinata supplied. He nodded. Mikoto frowned.

"She's your fiancé young man. You will help her right now." She said while Itachi and Fugaku tried to hide their laughter in the background.

"Fine." Sasuke gave in, to pick up the bags. Jesus. Hinata stood up. "I'll help." She said, taking about 20 bags in her hands and almost running upstairs because they were heavy.

Sasuke lifted the rest and found out they were indeed heavy. "I hate you guys." He muttered as Itachi and Fugaku started laughing loudly now. Mikoto also chuckled as she watched her younger son carry the bags while grumbling.

Sasuke walked inside Hinata's room and dropped all the bags on her bed. "Seems like you guys did plenty." He mused.

"We did." Hinata said, taking her shoes off.

"It's 12:30. We have to be school by 1." Sasuke informed her while sitting down on her bed. He just wanted to.

"Do you want to help me unpack these things?" Hinata asked, a little surprised. He shrugged as a response. He honestly did not care right now.

"You'll have to borrow a suitcase to take everything back." Sasuke said, eyeing her small duffel bag. She nodded. "I have two. You can have one." He offered.

Was he sick, Hinata wondered? "Don't bother." She said.

"You're going to ask my mother and she will make me give you my suitcase so I'm offering it directly." He said, gazing at her.

"Oh. Thanks?" she said, uncertain "And you should probably stay away from Neji for some days when he comes back."

"He thought I kidnapped you, didn't he?" Sasuke asked her, arching an eyebrow. She smiled before nodding.

"Figures. Whatever, just be ready. You're going to see the Konohans play in a match. Hold on to your pompoms."

Hinata scoffed. "I've seen you play."

"Not in a game." Sasuke said before walking out of her room.

"Weren't you going to help me?!" she asked exasperated.

"I changed my mind." A muffled voice said from outside. She sighed before looking at all the bags. This was not going to be done soon.


	9. The Aftermath

Hinata took a deep breath before strolling towards Ino, who was beckoning for her to join them. Hinata was fully dressed in her cheerleading outfit right now. She was wearing her jacket over her blue mini cheerleading dress (which she was sure only a pervert had designed), over her ballet flats and pompoms. She would take off the jacket before the match began.

They were in the back locker rooms right now. The gym was filled completely, even though it was extra huge for a school gym. The rows of the bleachers were packed with people of the school, administration, parents and friends. And of course supporters from cloud high.

Hinata was slightly nervous seeing this big of a crowd but she calmed herself. Being the Hyuga heiress, she knew how to mask her emotions and present a calm persona.

"Hey." Ino said, spotting Hinata beside her now.

"Hi." Hinata said in her ever soft voice. "Are you nervous? This is your very first match after all." Ino said, smiling supportively.

Hinata decided she could open up to Ino. "A little." Hinata said.

"Don't worry, you'll do great." Ino said, encouraging her and Hinata smiled in return. She was right, she would do great.

"Where are the boys anyways?" Ino said, peeking into the crowded and noisy gym. They hadn't seen the boys since a while ago.

"They'll be around." Hinata said, as she thought about Sasuke, who had spoken very little since they had come. Was he nervous too? He was acting as the captain instead of Neji after all.

"Guys! There you are. Temari's calling! The game's about to begin." Sakura said, suddenly coming to them.

"Right." Ino said smiling and following Sakura out of the gym. The basketball field was huge and there was a small stage and a podium at one end with big screens on either side of the elite gym.

The announcer was familiar. It was Gaara's older brother, Kankuro. He was a talented ventriloquist and an awesome guitar player. He had a slight obsession with warrior paint though. Must be a family thing. He was also in the substitute team for the basketball.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the first basketball match of the season! Konoha High versus Cloud Highhhhhhhhhhh! Kankuro riled up the audience, enjoying the show himself.

"Are you ready for the best match between the best teams!?" Kankuro called out, earning a yes from the whole crowd.

"Konoha, are you ready?" a roar followed, the students and others supporting Konoha High.

"Are you ready cloud high?!" Kankuro screamed and a large roar followed this as well. Kankuro grinned as he made sure the audience was not lost. He proceeded to introduce the teams.

"The first team tonight is Cloud High! Please put your hands together for….Cloud High!" The audience applauded happily as the cheerleaders came into view, cheerleading for their teams.

"First of all, the captain of the Cloud Team…..KILLER BEE!" The crowd went wild. Everyone had heard about the huge basketball player, who was also a good rapper. "….next is the right hand man and the fast as a lightening and stealthy as a panther, Omoi!" Kankuro announced as Karui came into view, followed by a cool looking Omoi.

He spotted Hinata and gave her a good natured grin which she returned before looking at the new arriving player. Hinata had to admit, their cheerleaders were good. They moved with fluidity, ease and….cheerfully. Hinata's mind flashed to a frowning Karin. Would they be able to pull this off?

"You guys better be good." A husky voice spoke near her ear. She stiffened before realizing it was Sasuke.

"We are. Where have you guys been?" she asked, turning her head to look at Sasuke, who looked as nonchalant as ever.

"Around." He replied. He was leaning on the wall next to her. And staring at her. She felt his gaze and returned it fiercely.

"Your dresses are too short." He observed with a smirk, looking at her legs, fine long legs he added in his mind. "I know that!" she snapped while trying to cover her legs more with the dress that barely skimmed her knees.

Sasuke chuckled and walked over towards the boys. The truth was he was slightly anxious as he was acting as the captain and teasing Hinata just distracted him.

The team formed a queue based on the order they would go to the stage on. The cheerleaders did the same as Kankuro was done announcing the team for Cloud High.

"Come on Hina." Temari said making her stand behind Ino, taking her jacket off. Hinata also took off her jacket and put it on the bundle of jackets with everyone else on the team. She took another deep breath and smiled.

"…Now are you ready for the second team of the night everyone?!" Kankuro screamed. The audience roared and Kankuro waited no more to introduce the Konoha team.

"Here comes…..KONOHA!" He yelled into the microscope. Ino grinned and jumped out to the stage, cart wheeling. There was a second's silence as everyone was too mesmerized by Ino to say anything, especially the boys of both Konoha and Cloud before everyone started to clap or whistle.

Kankuro laughed before introducing the other boys according to their lineup. "First up is, the acting captain for the night, Uchiha Sasuke!" he roared. Everyone applauded and then Hinata stepped into view. She cart wheeled towards the stage before Sasuke while he smirked at the reaction.

The crowd was silent again. They had not seen Hinata before. The silence went on for a few moments until Hinata thought something was wrong. She stood up straight, made eye contact with a few people of the crows (boys) as Sasuke followed to stand next to her.

The crowd broke out in nosebleeds and whistles (boys) and applause (girls). "ARE YOU SINGLE?"

"GOD, SHE'S SO FREAKING HOT!" came the yells towards Hinata who looked slightly bewildered.

"That's normal." Sasuke assured her as she looked a little freaked out. She sighed. Sasuke shook his head. Seriously, she was unbelievable. She looked up to see a boy staring at her rather intently; she caught his eye but looked away just as soon.

As Kankuro finished introducing the teams, the match was ready to start. Hinata went to the sidelines along with the other cheerleaders as she watched the team, comprising of Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, Haku, Shikamaru, Suigetsu, Lee and Gaara, walk to the stage. The girls of the crowd were drooling over them in a disgusting manner.

The whistle blew, indicating the start of the game. A series of interesting events.

The boy sat in his seat silently, observing everyone around him shout or laugh with excitement. How strange? He was also interested but not like those idiots. He sighed and looked away. He shook his thick hair out of his eyes and straightened his already perfect clothes.

He was wearing a Leather jacket over a dark T-shirt over denim jeans and sneakers. The colors made his pale skin stand out and he looked stunning. The girls around him looked at him with blushes. He sighed. Why had the coach made him come here?

He had to admit, the Konoha gym was larger than expected. And the crowd filling it was also larger than expected but then again, everyone was bound to be excited for the first match of the season.

He watched as the commentator with the weird purple face paint came to the stage and starting the commentary. He managed to excite the crowd, the boy noticed, even he felt a little energetic.

The commentator introduced the team of Cloud High, which he was already introduced to. The captain of the team, Killer Bee noticed him and grinned and the boy smiled back. That Killer Bee was too friendly, but that was what made him a good friend.

After the Cloud Team, the commentator introduced the Konoha team. He watched the blonde cheerleader, Ino with disinterest. Yeah, she was pretty but she was not his type. "…acting captain for the night…". These words caught his attention. Acting Captain? Where was the captain, Hyuga Neji? Was he sick or something?

And who was in his place. The boy smirked as he saw the younger Uchiha come into sight. He was as arrogant looking as ever…and handsome as well. So he was acting as the captain, huh? Suddenly, someone else caught his eye.

It was the cheerleader coming before Sasuke, performing her moves with perfect accuracy and timing. He had never seen her before. But damn did he wish he had. She had midnight blue hair and lavender eyes.

She was wearing the standard Konoha cheerleading dress (which was too short but he was not complaining) which showed off her curves. She was petite and not too short. She looked at the crowd, who had fallen silent.

Then the shouts of "Are you single" and "She's hot" and shit started but he was deaf to them all. He could only see her, standing next to Sasuke as he told her something and she looked slightly relieved. As if she noticed him staring, she looked at him.

He felt his heart stop. Her eyes were so pretty. Especially when she looked at him. She looked away just as fast and the boy wished she hadn't. He did not even know why he was staring at her but something told him he could not stop even if he tried.

Needless to say, the barely accomplished the task he came to do that night. The reason was simple. He wasn't paying attention to anything but her. The doe, as he liked to call her that night.

"Wow Hinata, I can't believe you were so popular in your first game." Sakura said, honestly surprised at the reaction Hinata had gotten. Hinata tried to smile while panting from doing various formatios. Konoha had scored the last basket of the match, winning it from 3 baskets.

Everyone was cheering. The boys had done a wonderful job. Despite it being his first time being the captain, Sasuke had not felt any further anxiety, pressure or tension (perks of being trained as an Uchiha). He had simply leaded the team to victory. Naruto and his coordination was still unbelievable. The boys played like they were made for this.

So this was what Sasuke meant by watching them play tonight. Hinata smiled faintly. The boys were smiling as Kankuro screamed Konoha's victory in the microphone. The captains smile and shook hands.

"THE WINNING CAPTAIN OF THE NIGHT, UCHIHA SASUKE!" Kankuro called out to the crowd. Sasuke came on to the stage, smirking, which increased the number of squealing fan girls. He suddenly looked at Hinata, who smiled and gave him a half hearted wave, because she was still tired.

She noticed a white haired boy go to the stage to shake hands with Bee while smiling and also shook hands with Sasuke minus the smile. Sasuke's smirk also vanished. The boy suddenly looked at Hinata and gave her a lopsided smirk, as if studying her. Taking her in. Sasuke also noticed and stiffened slightly.

"Come on, match's over. We're changing for the PAR-TAY!" Sakura shrieked. Everyone else cheered. The people in the bleachers started to move out slowly. Hinata looked over from the boys and started walking towards the locker room. She contemplated taking a shower but knew she did not have time.

"Where's the party again?" Sumire asked Hinata.

"Sakura's place. Again." Ino replied instead. Sumire nodded before walking away. Suddenly Naruto hugged Hinata from behind. His arms around her neck, he yelled. "Hinata!"

Hinata almost kicked his balls before she relaxed, realizing it was only Naruto. "You were great." He said, earning a bonk on the head from Ino.

"You idiot. You startled her and us." Ino growled. Sakura also looked annoyed. "Naruto, what are you doing in here?" Sakura asked, sighing because this was the girls locker room.

"I wanted to take a picture with you guys. Come on." He said before grabbing Hinata's arm and dragging her out.

"That idiot."Sakura muttered. "Well, one picture can't hurt." Ino said as she also walked out of the locker room.

After being done with the pictures, Hinata changed out of her cheerleading dress into the outfit she had come in, which was a sparkling full sleeved V-neck black top and a denim miniskirt over dark leggings and flats.

She walked towards the parking lot, which was over crowded. Everyone was either ready to drive to Sakura's pace or going home. Hinata went and stood besides Rai as she waited for Sasuke. He had told her that they would go to the party together.

Hinata's mind wandered to Naruto. This was supposed to be a date, right? More like, he had wanted to "Hang out" at the party. This wouldn't count as the first date, would it? It would be a hang out.

She was thinking of how their date would go when she saw the white haired boy for the third time that night. He was walking by himself when he spotted her too. He stopped in his tracks and his lips parted. He looked as if he was considering walking to her or not. Seems like he decided against it. He just threw her a slight smile before walking to a blue Ferrari and driving off.

Opposite to the road which led to Sakura's house. Huh, so he was not going to the party. She crossed her arms as she leaned against Sasuke's convertible car. Where was he?

She saw him rush outside, mobbed by hundreds of Fan girls. Her eyes widened as the mob rushed to where Hinata was, following Sasuke to his car. He yelled something she could not hear before sliding inside his car.

He unlocked the passenger side of the car and Hinata took the hint and sat inside. The girls were surrounding the car. "What the hell?" Hinata asked, a little freaked out.

"Shut up." He said before turning his attention to his car. He drove backwards and out of the parking lot. The girls yelled in dismay but Sasuke did not look like he cared.

"Are they really that obsessed?" Hinata asked and Sasuke shot her a look of annoyance that shut her up. She looked out of the window of the car.

"You guys played really good." Hinata complimented. This seemed to relax Sasuke a little as he stopped scowling. "Congratulations on winning. And you were the captain too so…basically what I'm saying is that you did a good job." she smiled in a comfortable way.

"I know." He said, smirking now. Conceited bastard. She was just about to retort when he added. "You weren't that bad either. I practically saw boys drool while looking at you."

Hinata did not expect that comment. He had noticed? Of course he had. What would she say to this now? She just looked out of the car in a flustered manner.

Sasuke chuckled a little. "Seems like I finally have someone to relate to in the future. You'll have fan boys." He said.

"No I won't. That's ridiculous." She snapped.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." He muttered. He was so rude. "I really don't like you." She spoke in a low voice.

"Keep telling yourself that." He said. She did not reply. He kept quiet too. He suddenly remembered what his mother had said to him. "We're supposed to be home by midnight."

"Alright. Get me before then." Hinata said, looking on the road.

"Get you?" he asked, raising his brow.

"Tonight's my date with Naruto, remember?" she asked, raising her brow too.

"No I don't. And what kind of dumb ass sets a date on a party?" Sasuke asked. Naruto would but still…this was Hinata. How could she agree?

"He more like asked to hang out, it was me who asked if it was a date or not. And why?" she asked turning to look at him.

"Drunk unsupervised hormonal teenagers." Sasuke said by way of reply. She was seriously going to get raped if she thought the party would not be wild. He had been to after match euphoria parties before. They were a disaster.

Hell, even he'd been tried to be molested by girls….and even a few boys. He still shuddered at the thought. Of course he'd broken the girls' wrists and the boys' noses because 1. He had high alcohol tolerance and 2. He did not drink much at parties like this. Who knew what was in the things present there?

"I can manage. Besides, I'm not drinking." She said. Sasuke almost laughed out loud. Yeah right. "Whatever; just don't get pregnant. Neji will kill the father. And my mother will kill me." He said, grinning slightly.

"Shut up." She said while she blushed. She was still a virgin, what was he even thinking?

He shrugged and drove on. They reached the street where Sakura's house was. There were cars parked everywhere. "We'll park a little distance away." He suggested.

"Where are Sakura's parents that she can party so much?" Hinata had to ask.

"They're on a business trip most of the time." He informed her while he parked the car. They got out of the car while Sasuke reached for her duffel bag in the back of the car, which had her dress and accessories that Mikoto had helped her pick out.

"…actually." she said, touching his upper arm slightly. He looked at her interrogatively. She pointed to the house, which had almost a million (sure they were exaggerating but it was a lot of) boys. Hinata knew her dress was beautiful and made her look stunning but she also knew it was a little provocative for perverts.

She decided to stick with her casual clothes for now. "I'm not going to change after all." She said, making him drop her bag in the back seat again.

"You sure? It's your date too." He said.

"Pretty sure. Like you said; drunk unsupervised hormonal teenagers." Hinata recited. Sasuke turned away and smirked a little.

"Whatever. You don't look too bad right now." He said. Okay he was slightly underestimating her look. She still looked beautiful.

"Let's go." She said, smiling and taking his arm, which he had not even offered. They walked across the teens who gave them looks of lust as they passed.

"Sasuke, Hinata." Sakura greeted them inside the living room.

"HEY GUYS!" Naruto's loud voice greeted. There was loud music blaring and people dancing, drinking, kissing and passed out.

"Um…nice party?" Hinata asked them both, smiling a little.

"I know right?" Ino asked, coming up behind them. She was standing with a boy Hinata had never seen before.

"Who…?" Hinata began when Ino cut her off. "This is Daichi, we just met." Ino said in a flirty tone and he looked back at her.

"I thought she was dating Itsuki" Hinata whispered to Sakura.

"They broke up." Sakura shrugged. Hinata shook her head, her gaze falling on Suigetsu, who was kissing a brunette right now. His white hair reminded her of the other boy.

"Hey, Sasuke, who was that boy who shook hands with you on the stage? The one with white hair?" Hinata asked, turning to Sasuke who looked at her.

"You mean…?" he was saying when Naruto cut him off "Who cares who that was? Hinata-chan, are you ready for our date?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah." she said, smiling brightly. "You look so cute." Naruto told her.

Hinata laughed and a lot of boys looked at her, their eyes glazed over. "Um…let's so and get something to drink." Hinata told Naruto as she walked off with him.

Sasuke had warned her not to drink anything but hey, if she wanted to, he would not stop her. He just stood there before walking towards the other guys.

"Yo, you made it." Kiba observed. He was grinning, showing his sharp canines.

"Hn." Sasuke said. He noticed Shikamaru looking at someone. He followed his gaze to Temari, who was laughing, standing with Omoi and Killer Bee from cloud.

"Hey." Sasuke interrupted his fascinations (whatever those were). "Hey." Shikamaru replied, sipping coke.

"Temari, huh?" Sasuke smirked.

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked, looking away from her.

"If you like her, do it. You're just being a damn coward." Sasuke playfully shoved him. "Nah man, girls are too troublesome." Shikamaru said, making his way to the couch, where a few teens were making out.

Sasuke smirked. He decided he would just talk to Shikamaru who was not annoying and because Naruto was busy. He joined Shikamaru and they started discussing the strategy cloud high had used.

"Hey cry baby." Someone said. Shikamaru and Sasuke looked up to see a blonde girl looking at them with a mocking smile.

"Temari." Shikamaru acknowledged.

"Why are you both sitting here when there's a party going on?" she asked, raising her brow. Sasuke and Shikamaru shrugged simultaneously.

"Come on and dance." She said, dragging them both up by their arms.

"That's just too much trouble." Shikamaru muttered. "And I don't like girls." Sasuke said to himself.

"You guys are being assholes. Come on." Temari dragged them up. She took Shikamaru with her to the dance floor while she shoved Sasuke towards Killer Bee, who fist bumped with Sasuke.

Sasuke would wonder why he even came but the reason was clear. His mother wanted him to take Hinata out.

"Captain." Bee smiled. Sasuke nodded with a smirk. "You were good." Bee acknowledged.

"You guys weren't too bad either." Sasuke said. They started talking and were talking about something when Omoi appeared.

"Bee, we need to leave. Karui told me Ay just called." Omoi said.

"Fine, gather the team. Sasuke, I'll take my leave. See ya." He grinned and bumped fists. Sasuke watched him go with a lazy smirk.

Suddenly, he felt someone latch on to his arm. He looked to see Karin, another cheerleader and an obsessive fan girl hold on to his arm.

She looked slightly drunk and Sasuke wondered if he had any danger of being molested. "Hey Sasukeee!" she said, smiling too cheerfully.

"Karin, what do you want?" he asked bluntly.

"I want youuu…" Karin said slurring her words. Sasuke rolled his eyes; that was obvious.

"Let go of my arm." He said roughly shaking his arm out of her grasp. She gasped and her eyes filled with tears.

"Why don't you like me Sasuke?" she asked with a shade of solemnity.

"That's none of your business." He said before trying to walk off when she grabbed his arm again. He breathed in because he was seriously tempted to break her arm like last year.

"Do you like someone else?" she asked.

"Is it really your problem if I do?" he snapped.

"Yes! Because I love you Sasuke!" Karin yelled. Some people paid attention while the others did not. Sasuke seriously started to wish he did not come. He remembered why he hated parties.

"Karin, I do not like you. Let me go." He said turning to face her and patiently repeating what he had been since the first day of high school. He noticed Suigetsu looking at him with anger, hatred and envy.

"It's because of her, isn't it? It's because of the Hyuga bitch! The one you keep giving rides to." She exclaimed.

Dear God. Now everyone was looking at them. Even the people from cloud were looking, waiting for Sasuke to confirm or refuse the statement.

"Because she doesn't have a car or a driving license" He said snatching his arm away and beginning to walk away.

"I'll get her for this….she stole you away…I will get back at her..."

Hinata laughed at Naruto's joke as he watched her laugh with a smile. He was actually having a lot of fun because she was not a fan girl who ran after him because his father was the president.

"Naruto, your drink's finished. Why don't you get some more?" she asked. They had been drinking coke since she had arrived and talking over snacks. She had vowed not to drink anything other than coke at parties. Naruto was really enjoying sitting with her.

He nodded and said "Be right back." before walking away. Hinata smiled. Naruto was fun. She wondered if he would try to kiss her tonight. She was not sure how she would feel if he did. She decided not to think about it.

She was sitting on the stairs when she looked at someone standing in front of her. It was a boy with dark hair. Itsuki. "Hey Hinata." He said. He was obviously drunk because his eyes were glazed over.

"Hi Itsuki. I'm sorry about your breakup with Ino." She said sympathetically. He waved his hand and sat down next to her, on the spot previously belonging to Naruto. "It's no biggie." He said.

Hinata smiled awkwardly. "So did you have fun at the game?" she asked.

"Yeah. Especially since you looked so hot." He said, smiling like a pedophile.

"Yeah…uh, I have to go." Hinata decided she did not like his tone right now. It was too suggestive.

"I'll go with you." He offered, standing up with her. "I have to go alone." She said firmly.

"Just one kiss before you go, Hina. It's okay." he said, suddenly pinning her to the stair wall. No one was paying them attention, busy within themselves.

Hinata panicked for a second before becoming angry. "I said no!" she said, kicking him where the sun doesn't shine. He yelped and fell on his knees and down the stairs. Hinata skipped down and ran over him.

She was just walking when she bumped into someone. "I'm sorr-" she stopped when she saw Karin standing there, looking malicious in her bottle green short dress.

"Hinata. I was looking for you." Karin said in a malicious tone.

"I have to go." Hinata said before attempting to walk away. Karin grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Not so fast." Hinata wondered what her problem was now. "You can't just run away from me after stealing my Sasuke from me. You slut!" she screamed.

"Let me go." Hinata said in a quiet rage.

"No! Why should I? How dare you? You bitch! He wasn't yours! He was mine." Karin screamed in her face before Hinata shook her arm out of her grasp.

"Sasuke is not your little toy Karin. He isn't yours and he isn't mine! He's a person so treat him like one. And he doesn't deserve someone like you." Hinata spat before stalking off.

"What the fuck do you mean?" Karin screamed as Hinata found her way blocked by Kasumi. Everyone was now looking at them.

Karin walked over to her and Hinata noticed she was crying. "I love him! He's mine. LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she yelled and upset her glass of punch on Hinata's head, which trickled down her neck and clothes.

Sasuke entered the room just as Karin did that. He did not know who it was who was being targeted because there were people surrounding them. He just watched until that someone screamed.

Hinata slapped Karin's face so hard, Karin stumbled backwards. "You bitch! How dare you hit Karin?" Kasumi asked, grabbing Hinata's hair roughly.

"SASUKE IS NOT YOUR TOY!"

Sasuke recognized the voice as Hinata's. He was even more shocked at what she was saying and the fact that she was screaming.

"….he does not like you. He does not like me. I DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM LIKE THAT! HE DROVE ME TO SCHOOL AND BACK OUT OF PITY, BECAUSE HIS MOTHER SAID SO. I'M HERE FOR NARUTO, NOT HIM!"

Naruto entered the room at this point and froze. "Stop treating Sasuke like you own him. You're pathetic." Hinata spat before kicking Kasumi's shin and walking out of her hold. Sasuke noticed that Kasumi had some of her hair in her hand and that made him inexplicably angry.

How dare they do that to someone because of him? He was about to retort when Hinata made her way out of the crowd, tears of anger and frustration streaming down her face. She looked and Naruto and him and let out a chocked sound.

"Hinata…" Naruto said softly before dropping the cola cups and enclosing her within his strong hold. He had his back to Sasuke but Hinata's face on Naruto's shoulder was visible as she squeezed his shoulders.

Sasuke watched the tears on her face and her clothes and hair sticky with punch. He was so angry he did not even know what to think.

Hinata released her hold on Naruto and looked directly at him, as Naruto also looked at him, his face angry.

"Hinata-" Sasuke said, not knowing why he felt the need to comfort her. Yes, he was ashamed that she had been harmed because of him.

"Sasuke-please. Not now." She said in a tearful voice before Naruto put his hand on her middle back and lead her out of the room.

Sasuke watched them leave and a silence filled the room. He looked at Karin stonily before saying "Fuck you." And walking off.

By the time Sasuke went out of the house, Naruto's car was gone. Hinata had left. With him. She'd left with Naruto instead of him. He walked inside, drank a shot and walked to his car. He sat inside and drove home.


	10. The Next Morning

Hinata and Sasuke were present at breakfast at 10 a.m. the net day. "Good Morning kids." Fugaku announced. There were murmurs of "Morning." From Itachi and Hinata while Sasuke stayed silent.

"You two don't look too happy, did something happen?" Fugaku asked, eyeing Hinata and Sasuke, who were unusually grave. (Maybe Hinata was, Sasuke was usually like this.)

Hinata shook her head, not meeting anyone's eye while Sasuke did not even bother with a response. "Did something happen at the party?" Itachi asked, recognizing the look on Hinata's face as the one Izumi gave him when he fucked up.

"Yeah, how did the party go?" Mikoto asked. Itachi was not home yet and Mikoto and Fugaku were 'busy' when they arrived last night.

"It was good." Hinata muttered half heartedly.

"Did you wear the outfit?" Mikoto asked and Hinata nodded, lying "Oooh! Did everyone like it? Was there feedback?"

Hinata nodded again and Sasuke was super annoyed at her for pretending everything went great. "There sure was feedback mom." Sasuke said.

Mikoto smiled. "You noticed?" she raised her brow.

"Yeah I did. She almost got raped in the dress so I had to kick some ass." Sasuke said, enjoying the effect on his family.

Itachi and Fugaku looked pale while Mikoto went white. "Oh My God…" she said.

"Where is my shotgun?" Fugaku asked in a low voice while Itachi got that 'you're-dead' look in his eyes. Both of theirs Sharingans activated.

"Can you recognize them or name them Hinata? And dad my grenades and your guns are in the locker in the basement." Hinata flinched at Itachi's words. How the hell did they have so many weapons?

She looked accusingly at Sasuke who looked smug even though he was pretending to be angry and hurt for his fiancé.

"It was nothing. Sasuke took care of it." She said, lying along. She could just tell the truth but she knew she should go along. She hated pretending.

"My babies!" Mikoto said tearfully while Fugaku and Itachi looked impressed. "Finally something manly." Itachi complimented.

Sasuke nodded fiercely. Both Hinata and he did not look at each other even once during this though. Mikoto was walking upstairs to burn the dress when Hinata called her, telling her she had to go get Neji.

"I would appreciate it if you would not let the incident of last night get out of this room." Hinata mumbled, knowing Neji would go on a killing spree on this false rape attempt.

"Of course baby. And Sasuke will accompany you to the airport. Besides, you do not drive." Mikoto said.

Fugaku nodded with his sharingan activated. No one messed with his future daughter in law. "I'll drop her luggage at her home." Itachi agreed.

Hinata agreed with the arrangement too. Aside from the Sasuke part. But she said nothing as she dressed in a lilac top over white Capri pants and heels and took off to their airport with Sasuke. He almost wanted her to berate him for the horrible lie he had just told his parents but she did not.

Hinata and Sasuke drove in silence. But this was not the comfortable silence which they often shared. This silence was restrained. It was a pregnant kind of silence. They were both pretending like the other was not even present there.

Hinata did not even try to turn on the radio this time, Sasuke noticed, as if she did not want to end the restrained silence. "It's not my fault." He finally said.

Hinata looked up from her bowed head as if broken out from a deep thought. "What isn't?" she asked, in her soft voice. She seemed slightly distant.

"The Karin thing." He said, looking over to see her face, which was blank for the first time. She betrayed absolutely no emotion.

"I did not blame you." Her words were careful. Sasuke knew she was just bursting with anger. She had to be.

"Look, I'm sorry it happened but I wasn't the one who told her to do it." He said, swallowing his pride to say sorry for something that was not even his fault.

"Sasuke" she said in a clipped tone "I'm not saying it was your fault. Don't apologize." He was annoyed now. If she did not blame him, why wasn't she talking to him?

"Then why are you silent?" he asked. They both knew he was hinting towards her usual, feeble attempts at a conversation.

"Because I want to be, alright?" she said, her voice finally showing some annoyance.

"And why is that?" he asked, challenging her to answer him.

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO ASSCOAITE WITH YOU ANYMORE!" she yelled. Sasuke's feet immediately pressed on the brake pedal. He did not want to cause an accident now. He pulled the car to the side of the road.

"Finally getting smart, are we?" he snarled.

"Yes." She said curtly, avoiding his gaze.

"And it was Karin that made you realize that?" he asked. She still did not look at him. He took a hold of her chin and made her look at him.

"No. It was you." She said, her eyes narrowing and forming tears of angers.

"Care to explain?" he asked, narrowing his own eyes.

"No." She made him let go of her face and she turned away. "I insist." He said, making her face him again.

"Sasuke, I'm just tired. I'm taking shit from your fan girls every day. I get hate notes in my locker; I get verbal abuse from them and finally physical abuse for driving with you. I'm not whining to you about it because I know you can't stop it. I could keep doing it but I know there's no reason for me to." She took a deep breath before continuing.

"You probably think I am a burden, you were forced in an engagement with me, you don't like me, your mom makes me do things for you and it's just unfair…to the both of us. I know I was the one who said we should be friends but I don't think so anymore. You deserve your life without me weighing you down and vice versa."

She looked at Sasuke who was looking at her, his face blank now. His sharingan suddenly activated (Hinata had researched on it). What was the intense emotion he was facing now? Relief, she thought bitterly.

He started the car and did not speak for the rest of the way.

Sasuke watched as Hinata walked ran over to Neji and launched herself on him. He dropped his rucksack and picked her up and twirled her around.

Neji put Hinata down and hugged her tightly. He was smiling like Sasuke had never seen him. His face showed true emotion. It showed love as if for a sibling.

Hinata kissed his cheek and he ruffled her hair before bending to pick up his rucksack. They both walked towards the car happily. Sasuke got out of the car to greet Neji.

"Uchiha." Neji acknowledged with a smirk which Sasuke returned with one of his own. "Hyuga."

"Neji, where are Tenten and Lee?" Hinata asked.

"They return tomorrow. I chose the quickest flight home. I had to see you." Neji replied with a faint smile directed at her.

"As cute as this is, I think I should drive you guys home." Sasuke said, teasing Neji. He frowned at Sasuke before grinning again. He must be going crazy because he was so glad to be back that he even liked the Uchiha right now.

Neji sat in the passenger seat next to Sasuke and Hinata sat in the back with the luggage. The wind whipped Neji's hair back. Sasuke was kind of glad he could not see Hinata much this way.

He still could not believe that had happened. He had thought they were starting to get along. Sometimes. Whatever. Not like he cared about her. He was just surprised. Because he had never been told to stay away by a girl.

But he was slightly glad that he did not have to wait on her anymore. Hinata's words of last night echoed in his mind. 'SASUKE IS NOT YOUR TOY'. That was when his Sharingan had activated. He had felt….excited. Because there was a girl who actually thought of him as a person.

"Uchiha, you didn't try anything with my cousin, did you?" Neji asked suddenly.

"I have better things to do." Sasuke replied.

"You better. So the guys told me we won. Congrats, seems like you finally were able to lead us to victory." Neji smirked.

"Your cousin was more popular." Sasuke said just to get on his nerves.

"Oh yeah, Hina, it was your first match right? How did it go?" Neji asked.

"It was good Neji-nii" Hinata said, leaning back on the window seat. No one said anything for some minutes. Everyone lost in their own thoughts.

Sasuke went home only to find it empty. Itachi was out with Izumi on a date (a make out) and his parents were gone to some dinner party.

He was scrolling through Facebook where Naruto had just uploaded his cover picture. It was of the boys and the cheerleaders together, grinning after their victory.

Naruto was doing his fist pump thing, Kiba grinning, Shikamaru with his eyes half lidded, Gaara looked stoic as ever and Sasuke was smirking a little and he looked hot. The girls were in front of them, being shorter.

Sakura was doing her 'shannaro' look, Ino her hot smile thing while Hinata was just smiling like she always did which made her look beautiful. He did not know for how many minutes he just stared at her picture before searching for her on Facebook.

Hyuga Hinata. Her profile picture was of her smiling pleasantly while dressed in a purple top with her head tilted slightly. She looked truly enchanting. The cover photo was of her, Temari, Sakura, Ino and Tenten standing somewhere (it looks suspiciously like Sakura's first party).

He scrolled through her profile, slightly interested. There was a picture of her in a dark blue dress that fell to her knees, as she stood next to a boy with dark brown hair. He was smiling with his green eyes shining brightly as he had his arm around her waist. Hinata also looked content.

Sasuke had no interest in knowing who that person was, as he kept on with his scrolling. He even saved some pictures without thinking.

He then came back to his homepage as he finished looking through her profile. He felt hungry now. Food wouldn't be that bad.

Author notes: This was bit of a filler chapter. It mainly focuses on Hinata and Sasuke finally confronting each other.

Sasuke is finally getting used to the idea of Hinata while Hinata tries to be done with it. Sasuke also realizes she is not like other girls while Hinata realizes she wants to escape this engagement because she thinks she likes Naruto.


	11. A New Week

To everyone who voted and commented. I love your comments and do keep commenting. Sorry for the late update. I had my final exams.

Hinata woke up to her alarm clock blaring loudly. She sat up groggily, to remember that it was Monday and she had school today. She hit the dismiss button on the alarm and stepped out of her bed. She walked into her bathroom for a hot shower.

After drying her hair, and getting dressed in her uniform, she walked downstairs. The housekeeper was back and was serving breakfast.

"Good morning Hinata-sama." She said as she spotted Hinata.

Hinata acknowledged her with a smile.

"Breakfast is served, would you like me to call Neji-sama?" she asked. Hinata shook her head. 'If he's tired let him sleep in' she thought.

"That won't be necessary." A voice said from behind Hinata. Neji stood there, fully dressed and smiling. "Morning Hina."

"Hey Neji." She said as they both sat down for breakfast. The maid excused herself and Neji nodded before turning to Hinata.

"I was thinking maybe you should learn how to drive." He suggested suddenly.

"Really? Why?" she asked, wanting to know his reasoning. Was he tired to driving her around?

"I'm not tired of driving you around. I'm just thinking if there's an emergency or I'm not around, you should be able to drive." He said, as if reading her mind.

"I've been thinking about it too. I would love it if you teach me." She said with a pleading look.

"Sure." He said as he ruffled her hair and started to eat. She followed suit and after they had finished breakfast, they walked towards their car and set off. Hinata could say she did not miss bickering with the Uchiha in the early morning as she laughed with Neji on the way to school.

Sasuke was done with breakfast when he picked up his bag and walked towards the front door. Then he stopped and looked at his watch. He was going to be late. Why was she taking so long?

Then he realized with a jolt. He did not have to drive Hinata anymore. She was gone. He was standing here for nothing. Like an idiot. Reprimanding himself, he shook his head and walked to his car.

He looked at the passenger seat and threw his bag there, trying not to let the atmosphere get too lonely without her presence. Funny, he drove alone all the time but he never felt lonely. What the hell was wrong with him now?

Hinata was just a favor to his mother. Nothing else. He did not need her, he told himself. And anyways, she was not going to associate with him anymore. He would only work on the project with her, nothing else. He sighed and drove to school quietly.

Hinata's week passed slowly. She was thankful when Tenten (who was back on Monday and had celebrated with milkshakes by the girls) informed her that it was Friday.

"Hina, we decided to go shopping this weekend, ne?" Ino asked, nudging her. Hinata smiled and answered.

"But I already went shopping with-" Hinata stopped abruptly.

"What were you saying?" Sakura eyed her suspiciously. Tenten and Temari also looked interested in what she had to say.

"I'm saying sure, I'll tag along." Hinata said, thankful for the close save.

"Great. We'll meet up near the fountain at the mall, tomorrow 11 a.m. It's going to be so much fun!" Ino yelled happily.

"Sure. I need some new clothes anyways." Tenten said and Tenten smirked.

"You finally decided to dress like a girl? Does this have anything to do with N-" Tenten nudged her in her ribs and Tenten gasped.

"Anything to do with who?" Sakura asked, smirking. Hinata and Ino also looked at Tenten in a demanding manner.

"With the new kid in our class." Tenten finished. Temari nodded, but it looked forced.

"Oooh! You have a new kid in class. Tell us." Ino begged and Sakura nodded. Hinata sighed at her friend's antics as Temari started telling them about someone in their class. Hinata eyed Tenten and noticed she looked slightly uncomfortable. Something told her she was not telling the girls the truth.

Hinata walked on with the girls. She noticed some girls look at her and whisper but Hinata did not care. The whispering had reduced, besides.

The first 3-4 days after the party had been hell. Everyone had been talking about the incident at the party. It had made the school blog. With stupid titles that made Hinata cringe.

 _Hinata slaps the loved redhead_

 _Karin vs. Hinata: Candidates to Sasuke's heart?_

 _Hinata Hyuga: the new girl in town_

She had stayed away from the girls though, away from Karin and her precious Sasuke-kun. They had not talked much even in class. It was just like the time when she was new and he had accused her of being a fan girl.

They had started their work on their literature project together. They had gotten together in the library two times in the week and had worked on two stories of the book.

The days in school had been long and tiresome. The girls had bitched to her face about trying to snatch Sasuke and attacking Karin (even though she had started it). Some had even tried to attack her but as she was a black belt, she simply dodged and walked away.

Sasuke had seen some girls yell at her but had walked away indifferently. She had turned colder towards him since then.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Ino asked everyone as they nodded and agreed. Hinata saw Neji and walked over towards him.

"Neji." She said as he smiled. "Hey Neji." Tenten said from behind Hinata.

"Hey Hinata. Tenten. Hina, you ready to go?" he turned to her. Hinata nodded. Tenten was walking away when Hinata called.

"Tenten! Do you need a ride home?"

Tenten shook her head. "I'll manage." She smiled before walking out. "

Neji looked at Hinata expectantly before nudging for her to walk out already. "Yeah, yeah." she said as they both moved towards the parking lot. She looked up at the blue sky longingly before moving to sit in his car.

"Are you going somewhere?" Neji asked as he saw Hinata walk downstairs all dressed up. She was wearing a red blouse over jeans and heels with her handbag on her shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm going shopping with the girls." Hinata replied, fixing her hair in the living room mirror.

"Do you need me to drive you?" he asked her, looking at the screen of his laptop again. He was currently talking to his friend from America.

"I can manage. I'll take the bus." She said to him as she walked to the front door. "Are you sure?" Neji asked concerned.

"I'm pretty sure." Hinata smiled at his over protectiveness. True, they had not gotten along in the beginning because Neji hated Hinata. He would often bully her and tease her. Then, one day he had pushed her when she was in the playground, resulting in a very serious injury on her head. There had been so much blood that it had changed Neji's attitude towards her forever.

Neji had never tried to hurt her again. Instead, he'd developed a brotherly attitude and sworn to always protect her.

"Have a good time." He said as she walked out the door. "I will." She replied.

Neji typed in his response to his friend's question when his phone rang. The screen showed the caller as Uncle Hiashi. He clicked the answer button.

"Hey Uncle Hiashi." He casually greeted as he looked at his screen.

"Greetings Neji. How are you son?" he asked. Neji smiled faintly. Hiashi had taken care of him like his own son ever since his parents died in an accident when he was 6.

"I'm alright. How are things in the states?" Neji asked.

"Everything is fine. I'm looking forward to the summer break so you and Hinata can come to the States to visit and work with me." Hiashi said.

Neji had almost forgotten. He had Hinata were supposed to go to the states as interns for Hiashi in the summer. "Yeah, we're looking forward to it too. Uh…did you talk to Hinata yet?"

"Unfortunately, Hinata has been ignoring my calls. She talked to me when she yelled at me and her mother but after that there has been no contact. I am not aware of any contact between her mother and her, if there is any."

"Yeah, she was pretty shocked though." Neji said, defending his little cousin.

"Her reaction and stance are not wrong. Are you both well?" he asked in a monotone but Neji knew he was actually concerned.

"Yeah. How are Hanabi and Aunt Hana?" Neji asked.

"They're well. I called you for another reason though." Hiashi said.

"That is?" Neji asked.

"I have chosen a trusted driver for you." Hiashi said "His name is Ko and he is trustworthy."

"Uncle, we don't really need a driver. I know how to drive and I'm going to teach Hina." Neji said.

"You can teach her when you come here. I want someone to take care of you both. I am quite concerned on how you manage." Hiashi said. Neji put away his laptop and focused solely on reassuring his uncle.

"Uncle, the house keeper you selected is efficient and does everything we require. You should not worry. Hinata is my personal responsibility so I will manage her security. You should not worry."

Hiashi stayed quiet for a few moments before speaking with a slight pride in his voice. "I did not realize you both had grown to be quite responsible."

Neji chuckled and he could feel his uncle smile (yes, it was creepy sometimes). "Very well Neji. Take care of Hinata and also of yourself. I will talk to you again."

"Good bye Uncle." Neji smiled and clicked the call off. He leaned back in the sofa and glanced at his laptop where his friend had sent him multiple question marks in the chat. He sighed before typing his reply.

Sasuke did not even know why he allowed his friends to do this to him anymore. He glared at Naruto, who sat across him in his orange car. Naruto was blabbering away while driving. He had called Sasuke almost 50 times before he had woken up and snapped at him.

Naruto had proceeded to tell him that they were hanging out today so he better get ready because he was pulling his car in front of Sasuke's house right now. Sasuke had politely told him to fuck off because he was sleepy.

But Naruto had been persistent, honking his car for what seemed like hours before he cursed, got dressed in 5 minutes (a new record) and walked downstairs and to Naruto's car and punched him.

And here he was right now, sitting in Naruto's car grumpily while Naruto spoke cheerfully. Sometimes, he wondered how they were even friends.

"…..so I kicked his ass until he begged me to stop and-" Naruto was saying when Sasuke cut him off.

"Okay so where are we going exactly?" Naruto had not told him yet and he demanded to know. Naruto grinned. "You'll see Teme. Cheer up, ne?"

"Naruto you fucking woke me up on a weekend. Where are we going? I swear if it's another-" Naruto cut him off saying.

"It's going to be good. I promise." Sasuke did not ask again because Naruto started blabbering about how Ino had told him he was an idiot and how they had another bicker.

They pulled up in front of the mall. Sasuke rubbed his eyes, thinking he had fallen asleep in the car and this was a dream. Nope. The mall was still there.

"Is this a fucking mall?" he snarled, looking at Naruto.

"Yup." Naruto said, crossing his arms triumphantly.

"….You….you woke me up on a weekend to…because you had to buy a fucking dress?" Sasuke asked, his eye brow twitching and his tone low.

Naruto seemed to realize Sasuke was a microscopic distance away from strangling him so he spoke quickly. "Teme, the girls invited me so I decided maybe we could all hang out, ya know?"

"What girls?" Sasuke asked his face stormy.

"You know Sakura-chan, Ino, Temari, Tenten and Hinata-chan." Naruto said casually.

"No, No way. I'm going back." Sasuke said, groaning internally when he heard Hinata's name.

"Teme, it's going to be fun. And you owe Hinata for what that redheaded banshee did." Naruto countered. Sasuke sighed and groaned. He hated it when Naruto was right.

They were not hanging out but he could at least try to make it up to the Hyuga heiress. "Whatever." He said quietly.

"Dattebayo! I knew I could convince you." Naruto grinned, stepping out of the car. He started walking to the entrance, where Sasuke spotted a herd of fan girls. He regretted his choice already.

To say Hinata was shocked was an understatement. When she saw Sasuke walk towards them with a cheerful Naruto, she stopped altogether.

"Hey guys! Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, hugging her.

"H-Hey Naruto." Hinata managed while trying not to be crushed into his embrace.

"Hey Sasuke-kun." Sakura said while smiling affectionately at him. Ino greeted him too while Temari and Tenten just nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Hinata asked Sasuke. He shrugged and looked away.

"Sakura invited us." Naruto said, smiling good naturedly. He was wearing an orange hoodie over black trousers. Hinata had to admit, he looked good with his tan skin and blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.

Hinata however, looked at Sakura accusingly. She knew things were strained between her and Sasuke. Why had she invited them? This was supposed to be a girl's day out. Sakura smiled nervously at her and Hinata turned away.

Temari and Tenten noticed this. "So are we ready to shop?" Tenten asked loudly, nudging Hinata. Hinata smiled slightly. She nodded to Sasuke and he gazed at her as acknowledgement.

"Yeah we are." Ino yelled.

"Shopping? I thought we were going to eat." Naruto said, looking at Sakura who scowled.

"We are. Later." Sakura said.

"You idiot, it's a shopping mall. Of course we were going to shop." Ino huffed.

"You're the only idiot here you dumb blonde." Naruto countered angrily. Sasuke did not want to point out how Naruto was also blonde as Temari and Ino glared daggers at him.

"How about we start shopping?" Tenten said, somewhat annoyed that fighting had already started. "Me, Hinata and Naruto will go shop for some shoes while you guys go check out what you want."

"No way am I going with them!" Temari glared as Sakura and Ino's faces lit up while Sasuke wondered if the time to become a serial killer was here.

"Yes, you are." Tenten said as she pleaded with Temari with her eyes. Temari sighed and rolled her eyes.

"How about we meet at the fountain again in an hour?" Temari asked. Ino frowned.

"That's too little. Plus, I wanted to shop with Hinata."

"What do you want to shop with Hinata for?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes because her best friend always had to whine about everything, didn't she?

"Dresses!" Ino said.

"She's got enough dresses." Assured Sasuke, who had carried them to her room.

"Alright! Let's get going. I can't wait to eat Ramen." Naruto chirped as Hinata giggled softly at her antics. Tenten started walking away with Hinata and Naruto.

Sasuke noticed Temari looking at them with such an expression; he knew she would run off. So he grabbed her arm and dragged her along because he was not going to spend an hour with Sakura and Ino on his own. If they went down, they went down together.

Sasuke spotted Hinata, Tenten and Naruto walk towards them. 'Finally' he thought. If he had to spend another second with the two babbling girls and Shikamaru's little crush, he would flip. He wanted to grab Naruto by the collar and drag him to the car they came in so he could go home.

He did notice that Naruto looked really happy. What he meant was, Naruto was always loud and annoyingly happy but he looked genuinely happy right now, walking with Hinata.

Hinata. Things had been really awkward since the Karin incident. He wouldn't usually mind but he had to work with her in classes and it was annoying him now. He knew his fan girls annoyed him but he could not do much about it, could he?

The other day he had seen a girl try and bully Hinata. Something had told him to crush her little skull. Didn't she know she was annoying? But he could not and would not hurt girls so he had seen Hinata look at him and he had walked away before something else started.

He also knew that he had fucked shit up by making her think it wasn't worth his efforts.

"Teme!" Naruto yelled while waving the bags he was holding for Hinata. Hinata looked pretty content right now. He saw her return his gaze and they both looked away.

"Took you long enough." Temari said arching her eye brow.

"Sorry. I just wanted to buy Hinata something pretty for her wrists." Naruto smiled sheepishly. Everyone aside from Tenten immediately looked at Hinata arms which were bearing pretty silver chain bracelets.

"Hinata that is so cute!" Ino exclaimed as she grabbed one of her wrists for closer inspection. "This is actually a good choice for your standards Naruto." she added and Naruto scowled.

"No one asked for your opinion Ino." He said and turned to Sasuke "Had fun socializing Teme?"

"So much fun." Sasuke rolled his eyes. Temari cracked a smile. If he had discovered anything in an hour with her, it was that she shared his sense of brutal sarcasm.

"I'm glad you did Sasuke-kun." Sakura smiled at him, obviously not getting the sarcasm. Sometimes, Sasuke wondered how he was even a close friend of hers. Her crush on him had lessened considerably over the years but she was still annoying sometimes when she tried to catch his eye.

"I'm going home." He informed everyone.

"God you grouch, at least let us eat something first." Tenten rolled her eyes.

"I'll pass. I know how girls eat after they shop. It's more like discussing what they bought….again." Sasuke said stuffing his hands in his pocket.

"No it's not!" Ino said indignantly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Okay maybe a little." She admitted.

"Teme, let's eat something first. Me and Hinata are super hungry." Naruto pleaded. As if on cue, his stomach growled. "See?"

"He's right Sasuke-kun, you must be hungry too. Naruto-kun said you didn't eat anything either." Hinata said in a monotone.

"Hn. Whatever." Sasuke said turning away. Yes, he was hungry. Naruto's eyes lit up when Sasuke agreed.

"Let's eat at Itchiraku's." He suggested.

"I thought you were hungry. That's half way across the town." Temari pointed out. Naruto pouted. Sasuke looked away, disgusted with the pout.

"We'll just eat here." Tenten said pointing to a fast-food shop on the map for the mall on the board. There were murmurs of 'yeah' and 'okay' and a 'Hn'.

"I have so much to tell you." Sakura said walking over to Tenten along with Temari, Hinata and Ino. Sasuke and Naruto walked behind as they moved towards the shop on the upper floor.

"You look happy." Sasuke pointed out.

"You bet. I just had a lot of fun with Hinata." Naruto sighed happily.

"Are you two dating now?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrow.

"In my dreams." Naruto said wistfully "Our last date wasn't exactly a success." He said looking over at Sasuke with a slightly accusing look.

"That wasn't my fault. And it wasn't a date. That was stupid. Besides, you could ask her out again. She would love to go with her 'Naruto-kun' again." Sasuke said somewhat bitterly.

He was a little surprised at his own tone and hoped Naruto would not notice. To be honest, along with being slightly awkward he was slightly wistful because she talked to Naruto and not him.

Naruto actually did not pay attention to his tone instead his face lit up. "You think she likes me?". Sasuke shrugged.

"She acts like that. Maybe you should go for it. I don't know for sure though." He smirked as he finished his advice. He loved annoying Naruto like that. Just as expected, Naruto's smile faded.

"I hate you Teme. Why you gotta make me double minded like that?" he asked him miserably.

"Like what? I'm just saying because I don't want to ruin your life or something." Sasuke stated in a smug manner.

"Yes you do." Naruto pointed out.

"Okay, caught me." Sasuke smirked as the shop came into view. "If I walk out of here a deaf man, you will go blind and mute Naruto."

Naruto gulped at the warning. He would feel much better if he did not believe Sasuke.

Hinata smiled when the girls were finally done with eating. They could finally go home now. Not that Hinata had not enjoyed shopping. She had loved it.

Shopping with Naruto had been so much fun. She had felt so good when he had bought her those bracelets, insisting she would look good. His jokes made her laugh and she wondered if she had started to like him. Like really, really like him.

"Sasuke, you eat like a princess. So proper." Ino said while smirking slightly. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Hinata smiled as her gaze landed on the boy sitting next to Naruto.

Even frowning and obviously annoyed, Sasuke looked so good. His pale skin always stood out in the dark clothes he wore and because of his dark hair and eyes. His eyes snapped up and looked at hers. As their gazed met, Hinata wanted to look away. But she did not.

It looked like she stared into his eyes for centuries, unable to look away from his dark orbs. She stared at him until Sakura waved her hand in front of her eyes. "Hina, are you there? Why are you and Sasuke still sitting?"

Hinata snapped out of it and noticed everyone was standing and ready to go and only she and Sasuke were sitting, looking at one another. "Right." She said as she smiled slightly and slid out of the booth.

"You okay?" Naruto's voice asked her as he helped her gather her bags and walked beside her. She nodded.

"Cool. Cuz, I wanna ask you something Hina." He said as he looked slightly nervous. He rubbed the back of his head with his hands which was not carrying any bags.

"Go ahead." She said as she watched the others walk in front of them, all talking. Sasuke was walking at a distance from everyone, walking even behind Naruto and Hinata. He was still a respectable distance away, unable to hear anything but even if he weren't Hinata did not expect him to listen in.

"I-uh- Yeah um…our last date, ya know. It wasn't so great." Naruto began.

"Was that our first date?" Hinata asked in a teasing tone. Naruto relaxed visibly and smiled back.

"No, not really. I want to ask you if you'll go on another date with me. Our proper first date." He asked smiling slightly.

Hinata didn't need to think. Naruto was a good guy and he was fun. She could give it a try. "I'd like that." Naruto grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"How about tomorrow then?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded with a sure. They both smiled and caught up to the others, both of them unaware of the dark haired boy behind them listening in.

He stopped walking for a second before shaking his head and continuing to walk, trying to ignore the weird stinging in his chest.

Neji raised his eye brow as Hinata came inside the living room, looking slightly giddy. She smiled goofily as she spotted Neji and plopped onto the couch next to him. He turned the volume down and observed her before talking.

"How did it go?" he asked. She did not reply. She just kept smiling like an idiot. Why did she look so…dare he say love struck?

"Hinata." He said seriously. Had that idiot tried anything? If so, he was dead. She looked at him in an interrogative manner.

"How was your date with Naruto?" he asked carefully. She broke into another smile.

"I had so much fun Neji-nii." She said, spreading her arms in a childish manner "We went to the amusement park and we tried out so many rides and he even bought me cotton candy and then we played some games and he drove me back." Hinata chirped.

"Okay….did you kiss him?" Neji got straight to the point. He was not sure what he would do if she said yes. He crossed his fingers behind his back. Naruto's life, after all, depended on her answer.

"Yeah." she said, goofily.

"You kissed him?" he asked, slightly horrified and slightly peeved. It was a teenagers' date, what did he expect?

"Yeah, I kissed his cheek at the doorstep." Hinata said, knowing her cousin would overreact if she didn't tell him this.

"Good." He breathed out. Naruto would live, after all.

"Good? You're not my father." Hinata said, somewhat annoyed.

"But I'm your cousin." He said, smirking smugly before turning up the volume. Hinata snatched the remote and turned it down again.

"Neji, when are you going to loosen up? And when are you going to ask Tenten out?" Hinata asked, furrowing her brows.

"Why would I ask Tenten out?" he said, snatching the remote back.

"Because she likes you?" Hinata said, as if he was dumb. Neji sighed slightly. "We were talking about you and Naruto, Hina. Did you really have fun?"

Hinata forgot all about him and answered happily "I did!". Neji smiled. Naruto really must have gone out his way to make her smile like this.

"So are you guys dating now?" he asked his face in a questioning look.

Hinata looked thoughtful before nodding. "I guess so." She said. She then stood up, her lavender sundress flowing slightly. "I got to go and change."

"Fine. Dinner's on me today." Neji said as she left the living room, smiling to herself and nodding to him. Naruto better not fuck shit up if he knew what was good for him. If he so much as caused his cousin to frown, he was D-E-A-D dead.

"Is everything alright?"

Sasuke looked up to see his parents looking at him, along with Itachi. He returned their gazed impassively before speaking.

"Yes."

"Why do you look so…on edge?" Fugaku asked the second question after his wife. Sasuke sighed softly.

"Nothing is wrong and I am not on edge." He started eating his onigiri again.

"No you are literally on edge. Your butt is literally on the edge of the chair as if you're thinking of sprinting out of here." Itachi informed him.

Sasuke looked down to see he really was sitting like Itachi had described. He straightened up and replied "I'm actually not very hungry."

"Baby, what's wrong? You look concerned….or annoyed." Mikoto said, her face becoming slightly concerned.

"Guys, I'm okay. You know what, I'm just going to go to my room. I'm done eating." Sasuke said as she stood up and left the room.

"But he was so good when Hinata-Chan was here." Mikoto said a bit sadly.

"Heh, he might be missing her." Fugaku said in a mocking manner. His son and the sentiment of missing did not suit together.

"Hinata-Chan is a wonderful girl. He should miss her." Itachi said, thinking of Izumi. He was so whipped. The brunette had him going crazy every second he was without her. He was already her fiancé and he wanted to marry her as soon as possible so he could live with her.

Meanwhile Sasuke plopped onto his bed. Why was he feeling so weird today? Ever since he had heard of Naruto and Hinata's plan for a date, he had been a little strange. Why did it concern him?

Was it because she was his fiancé? But he did not even care for her that way. They had agreed on allowing each other to date other people. Then what was the reason?

It must be the Karin incident. Yes, that perfectly fit the situation. He had ruined her first date with Naruto and had not done anything about it. Of course he had to feel a bit uncomfortable. He would not allow anyone to hurt another person on his behalf again.

That resolution made him feel much better. He decided he needed a distraction. The answer to that was his phone.

He started playing a song in the background as he opened his face book. There were about a million memes into which Naruto and Sakura had tagged him. He rolled his eyes and started checking out the posts.

He was uninterested until he came upon a post by Naruto. It was a picture of him in the Konoha Amusement park with Hinata Hyuga. Right…their date.

He was wearing his signature orange and black colors and somehow they did not look bad on him. Hinata was dressed in a lavender sundress with heels and her hair tied in a ponytail. She looked pretty. Sasuke gazed at the picture, noting their content and happy expressions.

Naruto really did like her. Sasuke noticed the comments. There were about 400 likes and almost 300 comments on how good they looked together and how they totally looked like a couple.

Sasuke smirked. So finally, Naruto had interested himself in someone actually worth his affections. Sasuke would be sure to root for him then, however that was supposed to be done. He smirked more widely looking at Naruto's content and happy expression in the picture.

He then glanced over at Hinata, who was also smiling. Her smile was really beautiful too, he noticed. His smirk shrank. Then he closed his eyes, thinking about the petite Hyuga. He abruptly opened them and scrolled away from the picture away liking it.

 **Author notes:** Okay, since the previous chapter was sort of filler, here you go. A long chapter. I hope the notification for this story brings a smile on your faces just like your comments and votes do for me.

I honestly did not think I would ever, ever upload one of my stories. And I had no clue I would make Paper Fans and Lavenders so detailed and long. Originally, when I wrote the first 2 chapter; I almost deleted the draft because I thought it lacked spark and who was I kidding?

But eventually my friend convinced me not to. And here we are. Anyways, thank you to everyone who voted and commented on the story. I hope you liked this chapter. Do vote and comment, follow and let me know what you think.

I want to add some Gaara and Hinata friendship/development too. What do you guys think? Plus side it will make the story longer. Minus side…it will make the story longer.

Also, check out my other short SasuHina story "An Uchiha Flaw." It's a little…okay mostly angst and darker themed.

Until next time.


	12. Projects and work

"How far are you guys on your literature project anyways?" Sakura asked, leaning on Sasuke and Hinata's desk. Kakashi was late yet again, even on a Monday and everyone was talking to doing whatever.

"We've done two stories so far. We were thinking of doing a long combined story but..." Hinata said as she glanced sideways to an obviously uninterested Sasuke, tapping on his phone.

"Really? Have you decided the content and how long it will be?" Sakura asked, interested now.

"Not yet. But there were originally supposed to be a few stories." Hinata said, again hesitating to speak for both herself and Sasuke.

"Man, you guys are done with two already while me and Ino are still thinking of what should be done. I think only a few people have actually started with the project right now." Sakura said. it was true, despite being one of the smartest students, Sakura had not started the project. She and Ino argued so much.

She wistfully looked at the stoic boy next to Hinata, wishing he could have been her partner. Hell, anyone but Ino.

"I'm sure you guys will do good." Hinata smiled. She had been slightly annoyed with Sakura for inviting Sasuke without telling her but Sakura had apologized and everything had been alright again.

"So um, who's Ino texting?" Hinata asked as Sakura smiled.

"Oh." Sakura said, her expression becoming slightly worn. "She broke up with her latest boyfriend again. She's just finishing things up."

Ino did move through boyfriends a bit, didn't she? Hinata did not even know what to say to this so she let Sakura tell her whatever she was saying about her weekend.

"Ne, Hinata." Naruto's voice said, cutting Sakura off.

"Yeah, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, feeling Sasuke's gaze shift to them both too.

"Can you tell Shikamaru to wake up? He's fallen asleep again." Naruto whined to Hinata.

"Tch." Sasuke said, annoyed at his best friend "Stop whining dobe."

"You know that no one can wake up Shikamaru easily." Ino said, joining them.

"Why the fuck is everyone hovering over my desk? You're cutting off the air supply." Sasuke growled. Where was Kakashi when you needed him?

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Kiba's voice said. Just what I needed, Sasuke thought.

"It's just how he usually is." Naruto said, glaring at Sasuke. Sasuke glared back. "Can you both stop making heart eyes at each other?" Kiba asked, grinning.

"Heart eyes?" Naruto asked, turning to him instead.

"Yeah, we know you guys are totally gay for each other so you don't have to hide it. Just kiss him. Those eyes are revolting." Kiba said.

"Shut your loud mouth Kiba!" Sakura said, punching his head.

"Ow! Look who's talking pinkie!" Kiba retorted back and soon Kiba and Sakura were immersed in their bickering.

"Naruto, you really went out of your way for Hinata, huh?" Ino said, grinning. The girls had gotten all the details out of Hinata as soon as she had come to school.

"Yeah, so what? She deserved it." Naruto said, smiling at Hinata.

"So you finally stopped falling for the annoying ones?" Shikamaru's voice spoke up.

"You're awake! Finally." Naruto said sighing in relief.

"Kakashi isn't here yet so I figured sleeping would be better." Shikamaru yawned. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. He was walking out of this class if Kakashi wasn't here in….

"Class, can you please settle down?" Kakashi's voice rang out and Hinata sighed in relief. Kiba and Sakura's bickering was giving her a headache.

"Sorry I'm late. I was…."

"…Just get on with the lesson" Naruto yelled out.

"Alright. Today we are supposed to read an essay. Take out your books." Everyone obliged and when everybody had reached the designated page, Kakashi started the lecture.

Despite his flaws, he was an awesome teacher. Everyone started taking notes. Hinata glanced over at Sasuke, who was busy taking notes. She looked away and started taking notes as well.

When class was over, she started to pick up her things. Everyone was walking out of the classroom one by one after noting the homework.

"Sasuke-kun." Hinata said before Sasuke could leave.

He turned to look at her a bit distracted. "When are we going to work on project again?" she asked. He didn't answer for a moment.

"Come to my house after school in the evening, we'll work there." He said and walked out of the room. Hinata nodded to herself as she also followed him outside.

Hinata was walking towards the music classroom after lunch break when she bumped into someone at the entrance of the classroom. She cursed in her mind. Why did she have to be so clumsy?

She looked up to gaze into emerald eyes. They were deep and mesmerizing. Distant and beautiful. The eyes cam with red hair and a tattoo claiming 'love' in Kanji on the forehead. She recognized the person as Sabaku no Gaara.

"I-I'm sorry Sabaku-san." Hinata said, sitting down to gather her notebook and pens.

"It's alright." He claimed in his smooth voice. He then proceeded to walk into the classroom. Huh? Did he have music class? She had never seen him in class before.

She walked in to see Kurunei Sensei smiling at the students. "Good day students." She greeted. "Good day Ms. Kurunei." They replied.

"Class, I have news for you. There is going to be a singing competition held in school in 3 weeks and I want all of you to participate." Kurunei said.

"Singing competition?" some people asked.

"All the students from each music class of the school will be competing. As there are 3 classes including ours, there will be 6 pairs of students competing. 2 pairs from each class. I want everyone to participate and those who will be best of you all will be selected by me to compete."

There were murmurs of students. "Also, I would like you to welcome Gaara in our music class. He had just moved his class from Music room 1 to ours."

Everyone looked at Gaara, sitting in the back. He showed no reaction or emotion. "Now I want you to form pairs for the preparation. Be ready to sing your sings to me next Monday." Kurunei instructed "You can come to me for help."

Hinata glanced at the other students. She did not many people in here. None of her close friends were in music class. She glanced at Gaara, whom no was approaching as they formed pairs among themselves.

Hinata did not know what made her walk towards Gaara. He looked at her, his expression nonchalant. "Sabaku-san, do you want to be partners?"

He did not say anything. He just looked away. Hinata took that as a yes and sat down beside him. He tensed slightly and moved away a little.

"Sabaku-san, is something wrong?" Hinata asked but again he did not reply. He was so good at basketball and seemed so approachable on the field, but here? What was wrong? Wasn't he Temari's brother?

"Um, would you like to introduce yourself to me?" Hinata asked, resolutely deciding to make him talk somehow.

He looked at her, looking slightly peeved. "My name is Sabaku no Gaara. I'm the son of the Sand Country's president, next in line for becoming president. My siblings are Temari and Kankuro and I like to play basketball." He said in a monotone.

Hinata smiled, ready to burst with the sense that she had finally managed to make him talk. "I'll go next. My name is Hyuga Hinata. I'm the Daughter of the owner of Hyuga Corp. and the next heiress. My sibling is my younger sister Hanabi and my cousin Neji. I like to do lots of stuff."

He looked away from her again. Was something the matter? She was determined to ask Temari. "Do you sing Sabaku san?" she asked.

He gave her a curt nod. She smiled. "We can work on our song then. When would you like to work?" she asked.

"I'll bring my notes tomorrow." He said, shrugging as if he did not care.

"Great. Then we're partners?" she asked, offering him a handshake. He just looked at her as if she was offering him a grenade. He did not shake her hand of affirm her statement. He just turned away with a small nod. Hinata smiled, taking that as a yes. She would make him open up, somehow.

School was super exhausting, Hinata decided. She walked into the parking lot. She was thankful there was no practice for a couple of days. She stood near Neji's car, waiting for him to come out of the school building.

Her gaze fell on Naruto and Sasuke who were walking to their cars parked near one another. Naruto was talking about something loudly and Sasuke was listening quietly. He felt Hinata look at him and turned his head to look at her.

Hinata remembered she had to go and work on the project too. She looked away before anything else. She spotted Neji walking out of the school building with Lee in tow.

"Good day to you Hinata-chan!" Lee said when he saw her "You look very youthful today."

Hinata smiled as Neji rolled his eyes. "Thank you Lee-san, I must say you seem enthusiastic too." She told him.

Lee flashed his signature blinding white smile. She covered her eyes with her hands slightly. "Thanks Lee, but now we have to go." Neji butted in.

"Of course. I will take my leave as well." He said as he turned to go.

"Lee-san, do you need a ride?" Hinata asked as he started walking away. He looked at her and smiled before saying.

"Oh no Hinata-Chan, I have to run laps around Konoha, walking is part of my training." With this, he ran off, leaving a surprised Hinata behind.

Hinata glanced over. Naruto and Sasuke were gone now. She sat in the car as Neji unlocked it. "Your friends are…." Hinata began.

"…Weird I know, but they're the only genuine friends I have." Neji smiled faintly.

"I was going to say interesting but alright. By the way, do you know how many girls try to impress me so I can talk them up for you? Your fans rival Sasuke's."

Neji grinned. "I know. Honestly, it's super annoying sometimes."

"Yeah right, admit it, you like being popular." Hinata teased him.

"No I don't. Anyways, do you want coffee?" he asked her. She nodded. "Might as well. I will need the energy later."

"Later? What for?" Neji asked he drove towards the nearest Starbucks.

"I have to work at a project at Sasuke's place in the evening." She said, looking out of the window. She could see Neji's smirk.

"Oh, so you're visiting your future in-laws, huh?" Neji teased her back. She narrowed her eyebrows.

"Neji….." she warned.

"Just kidding. Although technically they are going to be your in laws." Neji said seriously this time.

"Maybe." Hinata said, hesitating to tell him what she and Sasuke agreed on.

"Hina, you're not planning to marry him, are you?" Neji asked, his face softening. She nodded. She could not hide things from Neji anyways.

"What gave it away?" she asked, slightly laughing.

"Your date with Naruto. I mean, Sasuke did not even seem bothered at school today. So, I figured you both were cool with you dating other people." Neji informed her.

"Yeah, we decided that some time ago." Hinata said.

"Do you guys' parents know?" Neji asked, pulling into the star bucks takeout. He gave the order for a cappuccino while Hinata ordered a cookie dough milkshake.

"No way. We'll tell them though. Eventually." Hinata said as they waited for their order. Neji did not say anything else. When they got their orders, Neji paid and drove away.

They did not speak for a while. Until Neji asked. "Do you need me to drive you there?".

"I'll take the bus." She smiled. "Like I'll let you." Neji smiled.

Hinata broke into a smile too and Neji started playing the radio. They both drove home, singing along -and feeling contented in each other's presence.

Neji dropped Hinata outside the Uchiha Household in the Uchiha District. She smoothed out her blue dress shirt and jeans. She walked inside the main gates, smiling and nodding to the guard who opened the gates acknowledging her.

She made her way towards the front door. She knocked with three sharp raps on the wooden door. There was silence for a moment. She was poised to knock again when a servant opened the door. "Hi. Is Sasuke home?" Hinata asked.

"Yes Ms Hyuga, please come in." the servant boy lead her inside "He's in his room. Would you like some refreshments first?"

She shook her head. "Thank you anyways." She looked towards the stairs. She shifted her bag pack and started walking to the stairs when someone came inside the living room.

"Who is there-Hinata?!" Mikoto exclaimed happily before rushing over to hug her. "I missed you so much! Are you here to stay again? Please say you are!"

"Uh-Heh, actually Mrs. Uchiha-Mom, I'm here to work with Sasuke on a project." Hinata said, smiling sheepishly.

"Work on a project, eh?" Mikoto wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes?" Hinata said, sweat dropping.

"He'll be in his room. I'll come with refreshments soon to….keep an eye on things." Mikoto elbowed her suggestively before stepping back slowly and smiling like the Cheshire cat.

Hinata's eye brow twitched and she walked up the stairs. If only Mikoto knew…

She knocked on Sasuke's room door. "Come in." a voice rumbled. She turned the knob and walked inside to spot Sasuke sitting on the plush chair playing call of duty again.

"Hi." She said.

"You came." He noticed as he turned to play again.

"I did. We're supposed to work on the project?" she said/questioned.

"Yeah whatever, let me get done with this first." He said. She nodded and stood awkwardly. Where would she sit?

"Sit on the bed." He said, not paying attention to her. She sighed and followed his command. He kept playing for a few minutes before turning the game off and turning to her.

He got up and walked the few steps to the bed. Hinata noticed he was wearing a bottle green hoodie over trousers.

"What do you want?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Are you ser- _you_ told me to come here!" she said, narrowing her eyes

"I don't remember." He said plopping on the bed and making her bounce on the mattress. She sighed. Why did he have to be her partner?

"Do you want to work on it still?" she asked. He shrugged.

"You're here anyways so whatever." He leaned over her to pick up his notebook from the bedside. She took out her own notebook and pencils.

"So we've worked on 2 stories together already. How many are we supposed to do?" Hinata asked, looking at him.

"Knowing Kakashi, he'd want the book to be amusing and something moral. We should do about 5 or 6 short stories. Or 4 short stories and a long one."

Hinata liked that suggestion. "You know, we should do that. I mean, short stories are good but I like long stories."

"I really don't care. Stories are full of bullshit anyways." Sasuke shrugged.

"Hey! That's not true. They calm you and make you feel good about life and.."

"…And they're full of bullshit." Sasuke said, lying down on the bed, making Hinata frown.

"Why do you think that? Stories are good. Especially children stories. And they always have a happy ending. Have you even read sleeping beauty?" Hinata countered.

"Yeah sleeping beauty. It's a story about Stockholm Syndrome Hyuga." Sasuke snorted. Hinata went quiet before realizing he was in fact right.

"Childhood ruined?" he smirked, eyeing her reaction.

"Shut up!" she snapped. Why did he say that? "And I have a name, stop calling me Hyuga."

"I don't think we're on good enough terms for me to call you that." He said, looking at her blankly, not showing if he was contented or dissatisfied with it being that way.

"I admit it. But as long we're partners, we call each other by our proper names."

"I don't have to call you by your sunny name."

"I call you Sasuke. And hey!"

"Not my problem."

"Fine then, Uchiha…let's start working already."

Sasuke did not sit up, he liked annoying her, it seemed. He just shut his eyes. "You can't act tough for shit." Sasuke said, making Hinata's face turn slightly red.

"If you're not going to work, I'm leaving." She said, getting up. Sasuke decided to annoy her further by grabbing her arms and causing her to fall on the bed on her back. He sat up, pinning her arms down on the bed.

"Did Naruto teach you how to be feisty?" he smirked. Hinata turned red with anger and struggled against his strong grip on her arms.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be dating?" he continued, enjoying her reaction.

"We are!" she said still struggling.

"And here you are, already engaged." He smirked, hovering over her from about a foot. Her eyes widened and she stopped moving at his words. The engagement was still a sour topic, wasn't it?

His smirk widened and just as she opened her mouth to say something, the door burst open revealing Mikoto. "I have refresh-" she stopped short at the sight in front of her.

Sasuke was sitting on the bed, his face hovering over Hinata, lying on the bed, with her arms pinned down by him while she looked red and he looked smug. He raised his eyebrows as he saw her and sat back, arms still pinning Hinata's.

"Sasuke-what are you….?" Mikoto asked, not knowing if she should cheergul or be horrified.

"Mrs. Uchiha, it's not what you think!" Hinata answered for him "He's just….just."

"Foreplay." Sasuke smirked earning a horrified glare from Hinata and an eye twitch from his mother. She set down the tray and cracked her knuckles.

"Kidding, kidding." Sasuke said, raising his hands in surrender and releasing Hinata.

"You better be." Mikoto growled.

"Can we get back to work now?" Sasuke asked Hinata, smirking. She sat up, angry and annoyed while Mikoto observed them.

"Actually, I have other things to do. We'll finish out project at school." She said.

"But you just came." He said in a sarcastic tone, obviously enjoying how she was reacting.

"And it was still enough for me to contemplate never coming into your room without your mother here." Hinata snapped and Mikoto looked surprised.

"I said I was sorry for trying to tickle you." Sasuke said, his mouth twitching, threatening to smirk again.

"That's what this was? Tickling? Oh kids." Mikoto finally smiled.

"Mrs. Uchi-"

"It's okay. Sasu, you are not touching her again. She will work on the table while you'll be on the bed. And I'll leave the door completely open this time."

Hinata tried to talk again but Mikoto cut her off, making her sit, telling her she would have dinner with them before leaving the room.

Sasuke smirked, looking at his notebook like nothing had happened. "I hate you." She said.

"The feeling is mutual." He countered, opening his pen.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with. I have to work on my song notes later." She mumbled while uncapping her own pen.

"Why are you so sore about the engagement, we're not even going through with it." He asked her. She did not look at him.

"The real question is why you keep bringing it up when you don't even care." She said, leaving Sasuke feeling confused about his own self.

After the horrible project work with Sasuke, Hinata came home exhausted and started working on composing and arranging her songs and lyrics to show Gaara tomorrow. After working, she had a call from her mother. She was still angry at her parents, even angrier right now because of what she had to endure because of them today.

She had a curt and formal conversation with her mother, who by now was very worried and frustrated because Hinata wouldn't talk to her properly.

Hinata's last thought before sleeping tumbled towards a dark headed boy with an annoying smirk. She huffed even in a state of mild consciousness before sleep took over her.

Sasuke woke up with a slight headache. Why? Because he had not slept properly. It wasn't the nightmares anymore. In fact they had seized now. He just had watched movies till late night in his room after Hinata had left.

Hinata. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. She was so easy to mess with. It was fun teasing her. But she had left him confused. Why _did_ he keep bringing up the engagement if he didn't care? He decided he should not use that card for some time. She would just get annoyed and that would lead to a bad end for them both.

Besides, now that she was dating Naruto, it would prove to be a distraction. He dressed in his school uniform after a shower and shoved some things into his bag pack before pulling on his jacket and walking out of his room.

His brother was not home. He and Fugaku were away for a business meeting in another country. Mikoto was asleep, already having made his breakfast, as she had a slight headache.

Sasuke ate his breakfast quietly before he left the house and drove to school. He met the sight of Hyuga Neji getting out of his fancy car with Hinata, who was latched onto his arm, laughing loudly. She really looked happy and Sasuke had not seen her happy like this with anyone else.

He walked into the school building. There was still half an hour before classes began. He did what any normal 17 year old would have done. He hid from fan girls.

Hinata walked into music class happily. This was going to be fun. She tightened her hold on her notes as she spotted Gaara sitting in a corner, looking far away. She almost didn't want to walk to him but she told herself she was being absurd before walking to the seat he was sitting in.

"Ohayo Sabaku-san." Hinata chimed, smiling brightly.

"Ohayo." He said in a low, husky voice that could be seductive if he wanted it to be. She smiled and sat down next to him. He just scooted a bit farther.

Kurunei entered the classroom and greeted the class. She then proceeded to tell them they were free to work on their song this week as she would hear their songs on the coming Monday and select the two pairs.

"Sabaku san, do you have your notes?" she asked, turning to him now. He nodded and grabbed the notes from his bag pack, placing them on the table only they were sharing.

"I'll take a look at those if I may?" she asked.

"Choose someone else." He blurted out, suddenly, confusing her.

"Huh?" she asked him, raising her eye brow in confusion. Gaara looked her in the eye before saying it clearly. "Choose someone else as your partner for this class."

"Why would I do that?" she asked, waiting for his answer. He just looked at her to see if she was serious before looking away and answering after a few moments.

"I'm not the person you would hang out with or want to work with."

Hinata took a deep breath. As soon as she had come to this school, she had heard rumors about students, including the sand transfers. She had brushed them off, as she had learnt long ago rumors were never true or useful.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, sighing knowing this was going to be a bit hard.

"I'm not the usual happy guy you hang out with." He said bitterly. He looked annoyed, teased and tormented. Hinata eyed his tattoo, claiming love in Kanji. She would back off if she did not see the almost unnoticeable loneliness in them.

"I never asked you to be that guy."

"I've done bad things Hyuga, things that would not make anyone associate with me. Choose someone else." He turned away, closing the topic in a harsh tone.

"I won't" she said, grabbing his arm and making him look at her "Sabaku san, what you did and how you are is not my concern. That's in the past. Right now, you're my classmate and a normal seventeen year old who deserves every chance at being happy with others and making friends."

"Normal." He scoffed "What would you know about me?"

"I don't." she admitted "But I would like to. I won't turn away. You don't deserve that."

He looked her in the eyes, as if daring her to cower under his gaze. Hinata looked back, almost fiercely. It was a silent 'I'm not backing off' message to him.

She even wondered how people could be afraid of or flinch under those jade eyes which looked into you like that. When she did not so much as even flinch, Gaara nodded.

"So you'll work with me right?" she asked, tentatively. He nodded curtly, not looking at her.

She slid over her notes to him and at first, he tried to ignore them but then she saw him reading them silently. She turned her own attention to the songs he had written. They were amazing, she had to admit.

She liked one in particular, as it was really beautiful. "Sabaku-san-"

"Gaara." He cut her off. She nodded and smiled faintly.

"Gaara-kun…" she let the word hang and when he did not disapprove, she continued "Can we try this song? I really like it."

"I like that one too." She spoke and she had to look up surprised because he had told her he liked it. He had told her his opinion.

"When did you write this?" she asked, wondering.

"I just did. Do you want to sing this then?" he asked, evading the question. She nodded.

"Can you play the guitar?" he asked her. She nodded. "Then we should start practice after school."

They started discussing the lyrics, the emotion they wanted to express to others and the instruments playing and the tunes. The period passed before either of them realized it.

"Saba-Gaara-kun, this was great. We'll practice the song tomorrow then?" she asked, hoisting her bag pack on her shoulders.

He nodded before walking away. She noticed something though; he did not frown at her like he usually did. She walked to her locker smiling faintly, suddenly catching Sasuke's eye, who was looking at her with an unreadable expression standing at his locker.

As soon as she looked back, he looked away with a frown and walked off, hands in pocket. Hinata sighed. It was drama class next and Deidara sensei was very….energetic. She wanted her mom.

The week and the weekend passed in a blur for Hinata, who was working on her projects and keeping up with her schoolwork as well as cheerleading sessions with difficulty. Neji was also busy because of some exams for his AP class.

Hinata and Gaara had been practicing on the song they were going to sing to Kurunai with the rest of their class. They even talked sometimes during basketball practice, making everyone almost die with shock because Gaara actually talked back.

The first time Temari had seen them talk, she had been dumbfounded for the first time. "How is he talking to you? How did you make him talk?" she asked, after a few minutes.

Hinata raised her eyebrows. "He does not talk to anyone but a few choice people including me, Kankuro and Naruto."

"He's nice if not social. What happened to him anyway?" Hinata said, looking at him while he stared at Naruto impassively as he tried to make him laugh on his joke.

"Well….if he trusts you, I do too." Temari said. "He was always smart and strong. But he did not make friends. One day this guy just started to bully him. He ignored him like he did to everyone else but that guy wouldn't quit. In the end, Gaara almost killed that guy. It wasn't pretty. He was the president's son so that was a bad impression. We had to transfer schools and since then, Gaara's never opened up to anyone. Naruto was one to change him when we came. He respects Naruto and even likes him."

After hearing Gaara's story, Hinata's resolve to make him open up tripled and she was determined to succeed. As her father said 'Hyugas never cower'.

Hinata and Ino had been a bit uncomfortable with her making friends with him but had warmed up quickly. The one who had been the happiest about Gaara and Hinata was Naruto while Sasuke did not give a reaction (in front of anyone).

"I mean, the more the merrier. It's super that you're making friends with him Hina." Naruto said as he hugged her. Hinata almost grinned.

Right now, they were both sitting on their seats, waiting for their turn. Kurunai had only seemed satisfied with one pair till now, and that was Tayuya and Kimimaro, who played instruments nicely and had decent voices.

Hinata noticed Gaara was more stoic than usual. "Are…you nervous Gaara-kun?" Hinata asked. He shook his head almost unnoticeably.

Hinata fought the urge to chuckle. He _was_ nervous and what was more, he was too shy and awkward to admit it. And he looked so cute like. She had no more time to look at his adorable face because Kurunai was calling them next.

"Gaara and Hinata, you're last." Kurunai said, her tone somewhat tired. They walked in front of them class.

They each took a microphone before starting. Hinata took a deep breath.

 _(Hinata)_

 _I couldn't tell you, why she felt that way, she felt it everyday_

 _And I couldn't help her_

 _I just watched her make the same mistakes again_

 _(Gaara)_

 _ **What's wrong what's wrong now?**_

 _ **Too many too many problems**_

 _ **Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs**_

 _ **She wants to go home, no body's home**_

 _ **It's where she lies, broken inside**_

 _ **With no place to go, no place to go**_

 _ **To dry her eyes, broken inside**_

 _(Hinata)_

 _Open your eyes and look outside, fine the reasons why_

 _You've been rejected and now you can't find what you left behind_

 _Be strong be strong now_

 _Too many too many problems_

 _Don't know where she belongs where she belongs_

 _(Gaara)_

 _ **She wants to go home, no body's home**_

 _ **It's where she lies, broken inside**_

 _ **With no place to go, no place to go**_

 _ **To dry her eyes, broken inside**_

 _(Hinata)_

 _Her feelings she hides_

 _Her dreams she can't find_

 _She's losing her mind, she's falling behind_

 _She can't her place_

 _She losing her faith_

 _She's falling from grace_

 _She's all over the place_

 _(Gaara)_

 _ **She wants to go home, no body's home**_

 _ **It's where she lies, broken inside**_

 _ **With no place to go, no place to go**_

 _ **To dry her eyes, broken inside**_

 _(Hinata and Gaara)_

 _She's lost inside (2x)_

 _She's lost inside, lost inside_

Hinata and Gaara finished together, slowing down in the end. Hinata opened her eyes to see everyone staring at them with their eyes wide open. Okay, so everyone knew Gaara took music classes but no one knew he was such an amazing singer. Hinata had not sung much before either and now their performance looked brilliant. They started clapping.

Kurunai's eyes were bright. "You're selected." That was all Hinata needed to hear. She turned to Gaara, who looked at her and his eyes actually showed slight happiness.

"We're in." she told him as she felt breathless. He nodded, in a state of disbelief himself and turned to place his hand on her shoulder to stop her from falling.

Kurunai smiled, thinking how beautiful their voices sounded together.

Author notes: The characters and the song do not belong to me. The song is "Nobody's home" by Avril Lavigne. Comment and vote.


	13. The competition

Sasuke made a mental note to be slightly nicer to Sakura and Ino when he walked into the auditorium where the competition was to be held. It was clean, decorated nicely and there were posters hanging around.

Ino and Sakura along with the other members of the council had gone and made posters for the teams and the competition to raise the interest and it had worked. Today was Monday, and the competition would start in an hour. Already, everyone was waiting for the auditorium to be open for them.

Prinicpal Tsunade had privately called Neji and Sasuke to her office to congratulate and praise them on such a good job on it. Both of them had looked away, sheepishly because none of them had contributed much. It had mostly been the other members.

Sasuke was managing the sound tracks to entertain the audience as fillers and Neji was doing the part of the comparer. Sasuke had taken a glance at the paper to see the competitors. There were six teams in the team category and 5 people in the single category.

The teams were:

Sumire and Daichi (Music room 1)

Tayuya and Kimimaro (Music room 3)

Itsuki and Kaede (Music room 2)

Karin and Kasumi (Music room 1)

Hinata and Gaara (Music room 3)

Akira and Jen (Music room 2)

Sasuke sucked in a breath. If Karin was singing, the end of the world was here. What was she going to sing? The banshee song? Regardless, he skimmed over the single competitors who he had no idea were.

He left the list on the podium for Neji to manage and went backstage. Shikamaru was already setting up the apparatus. He was Sasuke's helper for the task and also a member of the council.

"Hey." He said as he spotted Sasuke. Sasuke 'Hn-ed'.

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled as he plugged another cord.

"Would you prefer staying at home?" Sasuke asked him, rolling his eyes as to why he even came to school if this was what he had in mind.

"I would but my mother wouldn't." Sasuke remembered. She was the really loud one at one of the dinners he had attended. He wouldn't want to mess with her either.

"Just set the things up. I can handle it." Sasuke instructed. Shikamaru nodded. Sasuke started drinking water from the nearby bottle.

"What happened with you and Hinata?" Sasuke almost chocked on his water. Shikamaru; that lazy genius. Of course he noticed.

"What would happen with us? We're the same as always." Sasuke tried.

"Of course you are." Shikamaru said in a sarcastic voice "You talked before and now it's just awkward between you."

"Do you always notice things like this?" Sasuke asked him in disbelief.

"Sometimes. Whatever it is, you better sort it out before she returns you that necklace." Shikamaru said before bowing to get another cord.

Sasuke did choke on his water this time. "How did-"

"I saw her taking it off before entering the school the day of the match. She had just come from the Uchiha Compounds. With you. A man can put two and two together." He said not proudly, just plugging the cords in.

"Have you told anyone else?"

"That you're betrothed with her, possibly since your childhood? No. it was none of my business."

"You should pay attention in class more. You're a genius." Sasuke informed him before going over to the table.

"Too troublesome." He said before walking back to let Sasuke take over "We still have a quarter of an hour left. I'm going to sleep. Wake me up later."

Sasuke nodded, thinking how Shikamaru was not someone you wanted to get on the bad side of.

"We're going to do this." Hinata muttered to herself.

"Of course we are." Some said from behind her and she jumped while letting out a gasp. Gaara stood behind her, amusement in his eyes with a soft smile on his face.

"Gaara!" she pouted "You scared me."

"You're easy to scare. You are always lost in one thought or another. And it is even cute." He said, leaning against the wall.

Did he just-? Hinata smiled. He was opening up to her since that day at his home. The practice had been long forgotten and she had just held him after his thank you. He had like that, the comfort.

"I am not always lost in a thought." Hinata argued with a playful smile. He rolled his eyes. "Just stop being so nervous. We'll be good." He told her.

"You're right." She said and looked into his jade eyes, which calmed her down.

"There's only 20 minutes till the competition begins, let's go backstage." He said, taking her hand in his own large one.

She followed him with a large smile. The students passing by gave them strange looks because 'Gaara' was holding someone's hand. A few of them even bumped into a wall or another student because they were not looking.

Gaara and Hinata did not care. They just walked to the auditorium and walked backstage, ignoring the looks from everyone.

"Hinata." Neji's voice reached Hinata's ears and she looked his way. He was standing at the podium. She walked towards him.

"Neji." She said. Neji spotted Gaara holding Hinata's hand and his smile vanished. His brotherly senses went on high alert and his eye twitched. "Where are you two going? Shouldn't you be backstage, doing something related to singing and _not_ holding anyone's hand."

Hinata noticed Neji's eyebrow twitching. "Calm down Neji. We were going there." She said in her soft voice.

"I still it's not healthy to hold someone's hand just before you sing. What if you get a contagious disease?" Neji said, eyebrow still twitching.

"I am not sick." Gaara said, looking at Neji in a confused manner and then at Hinata "Are you?"

"Of course not." Hinata told him and glared at Neji glared back. She let go of Gaara's hand to relieve him. "We'll see you later Neji." He nodded and they walked backstage.

"Hinata! Where have you been?" Ino ran towards her but stopped as she saw the 'couple'. "Weren't you dating Naruto? Oh…so you broke up. Not that it's bad. In fact, I like this one better. At least he's quiet. Naruto was too loud."

"They didn't break up Ino." Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey guys." She said, slightly embarrassed. Gaara nodded to them.

"How do you like the décor?" Sakura asked, happily. Hinata nodded. "You guys did a great job."

"Tell me about it. It took us hours." Ino said, flipping her ponytail back. Sakura nodded. "It did take a while."

"Ino, Sakura!" someone called and they both ran off in the direction of the voice mumbling a later to Hinata and Gaara.

They walked off until they came face to face with Sasuke and a sleeping Shikamaru. Sasuke was just sitting there and he stiffened when he saw them.

What were they doin-oh right, they were participating.

"Hyuga, Sabaku, why are you guys here? The singers are on the other side." He informed them, not wanting to look at them.

Gaara nodded and started to walk off when Hinata stopped. "You go, I'll catch up." Gaara nodded and left.

"Sasuke, please tell your mother that my mom asked her to call." Hinata told him from her place.

"Tell her yourself." He said. "I don't have her number." Hinata said.

"Not my problem." He said, turning away. Hinata was angry now. She walked up to the table and then said.

"Stop being such an asshole."

"This is who I am. Deal with it." He said, rolling his eyes.

Hinata then stalked off, but not before saying "Fuck you." Sasuke was dumbfounded for a moment before he smirked.

Somehow, an angry Hinata looked appealing to him. He shook his head at the fucked up thought. He was seriously going crazy. And just before the competition too. Too bad he could not see Hinata sing if he went crazy now.

Hinata fumed, as Kankuro would say, Gaara noticed. Whatever had occurred with Sasuke had not been a pleasant experience if he was correct. Not that he had much experience with girls but living with Temari did help slightly.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

He even surprised himself with the way he had opened up to her since that day. He did not scowl. He made small talk and even enjoyed himself. Maybe that's what having genuine friends did to you. You felt…normal.

"Yes." She said, still furrowing her brows.

Gaara contemplated his options. Either he was very, very, very poor at reading emotions or she was lying.

"You're lying." He said, looking at her face, which was angry but then she sighed and looked slightly deflated.

"Yeah. Sasuke's just being a jerk again." She said, turning to him with her beautiful pearl eyes. Wait…did he just-?

"I always assumed you two got along well." And it was true. Even before he started talking to Hinata, he was in the same basketball team as Sasuke so he occasionally made small talk and Sasuke usually made more of a conversation with either Naruto or Hinata.

"We did. But…"

"The events of the party changed that fact?" Gaara guessed. Yeah, he was at the party albeit he was on the sidelines.

Hinata looked at him, contemplating weather she could tell him or not. She took another sigh before starting to talk.

"He was one of the first people I sorta made friends with at school and I even started to like him as a friend but…there are some complications and then there was the whole Karin thing and he was just being a jerk and now we're not talking to each other but I can't seem to dislike him either."

Gaara listened patiently. He waited for her to continue. "I mean, do I just pretend he does not exist or something?"

"If there is a problem, you could talk to him." Gaara suggested hesitantly because he sucked at advice and he had never faced a scenario in which he had to give some.

"I don't even know. Things are so weird."

Gaara stayed quiet. It was then that they heard the speaker turn on and Neji's voice ring out. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the First event of the year held by our student council, the singing competition!"

There were cheers even thought Neji's voice was strictly business like. "There will be two parts for the event, the single and double category. The single singers will go first."

"I would like to introduce our judges for today's event. The first judge is Ms. Kurunei Yuhhi, music teacher for classroom 3 and award winner for being a talented pianist on the national level."

"The second judge for today is our Principal, Tsunade Senju and the third is Ms. Shizune." There was more applause.

"Our fourth and last judge for today will be Hatake sensei."

Hinata and Gaara moved to the backstage, where the stage was visible. The other participants were also there. Hinata felt someone's gaze on her back and turned to see Karin staring at her angrily. Hinata turned away, deciding Karin was not even worth it.

"We're going to hear out our single singers first. Please welcome on stage…."

Neji's voice rang out and Hinata felt herself looking forward to the competition while Gaara leaned slightly on the wall next to her, unconsciously gazing at her.

This had to be the shittiest competition he had ever been to, including the stupid ramen eating contest Naruto had petitioned to be organized and had been held. The single contestants were all sore losers and Sasuke felt his ears bleed by the time the last one got off the stage.

He looked at the judges, who looked battered and ready to pass out. All except Kakashi who was not even paying attention the whole time, instead just choosing to read his perverted book instead.

Sasuke sighed for the millionth time and looked at Shikamaru wistfully who had slept through that hell. Neji signaled for him (Sasuke smirked when Neji stumbled over his own feet) to play the filler music. The students sighed in relief when the first segment of the competition was declared over.

"Who let them sing?" Sakura came towards Neji and Sasuke as they regrouped. Ino shrugged faintly. "I hate whoever it was."

"Hey, some of them were good." Neji said feebly. The three glared at him and he looked away. "Okay they did suck a little."

"I swear if the groups are bad too, then let's just tapdance, give the audience something worth their time and let them go." Ino suggested and for once in his life, Sasuke agreed.

"No! The groups are good." Sakura insisted, having heard some of them play.

"Whatever Sakura, the audience is totally fed up." Said Ino, glaring at the boys as if it was their fault. Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"Why don't you make an appearance. Half of the people funded and came here because of Neji and you. The girls are staying because Neji's there. If you go to the stage or something, they might like to stay." Sakura said, using her intelligence.

"What am I supposed to do? Dance?" Sasuke sighed.

"I wish." Ino said wistfully. Sasuke pretended like he had not heard her. Neji did the same.

"Sasuke, just come sit next to my chair and look interested. This way, you can watch the bands and this won't be a complete failure." Neji told him.

"There was a reason I chose backstage." Sasuke reminded.

"Sasuke please." Sakura said, backing Neji up. Sasuke nodded before sighing. Sakura and Ino grinned and made their way to wake Shikamaru up. Sasuke walked to the podium on the side with Neji. The girls from the audience perked up to see them both coming.

Sasuke glared at Neji when he nudged Sasuke in the ribs to tell him to wave. Sasuke rolled his eyes before raising his arm at the audience. The girls swooned while boys grinned at Sasuke's obvious discomfort (Naruto and Kiba were in the front row).

Neji smirked before going over to the podium as the music stopped. Sasuke paid no attention as he informed the crowd of the next segment. The pairs. He called someone from homeroom 1 before coming over to sit in the chair next to Sasuke.

They both said nothing, just looking at the pair sing. They weren't that bad actually. They sang some song, earning a round of applause. Neji grinned at the audience who now looked fresh before calling Tayuya and Kimimaro on stage.

They came on stage with poker faces and seemed very awkward standing next to each other until they started singing. It was obvious they loved music as all traces of awkwardness vanished as they started singing.

Sasuke actually listened to their song. Tayuya had a good voice, he had already known that, but combined with Kimimaro and his lyrics, they both totally rocked the stage.

Kimimaro started with his lines after the music.

" _I was born in the arms of an imaginary friend_

 _Free to roam, made home out of everywhere I've been…."_

Sasuke enjoyed the lyrics for once and saw everyone else do the same. He almost smirked at the way the audience's vibe had changed from bored and fed up to fresh and interested. Inwardly, he congratulated Kurunei for having at least two decent singers in her class.

Everyone clapped with enthusiasm as Kimimaro and Tayuya held hands and bowed to the audience after their song was finished. The left the stage with a smiling face. Then there was someone else on the stage that Sasuke did not recognize.

He did not pay attention again while everyone else listened to the song. The next pair also did not get Sasuke's attention. As much as Sasuke expected his ears to bleed during the fourth pair (Kasumi and Karin) they were alright, not too good though.

It was the fifth pair that got Sasuke perked up. Hinata and Gaara came to stage. Gaara with his usual monotone with Hinata looked absolutely confident and blank. Sasuke smirked. He could recognize it as a façade. She was jittery and nervous deep down, this was just the Hyuga training showing.

He saw Gaara's hand brush hers and his eyebrow twitched while Hinata looked more assured. He looked at the audience to see Naruto's reaction, who was just yelling and cheering them on.

The music started playing softly and Sasuke actually felt himself relax despite it being against his wishes. At least the tune was decent.

Gaara brought the microphone up and started. His voice was rich and deep and Sasuke realized he had never seen Gaara sing.

" _Through the wire, through the wire through the wire, I'm watching her dance_

 _Dress is catching the light_

 _In her eyes there's no lies, no lies_

 _There's no question, she's not in a disguise..."_

He looked over to the audience and swept a gaze across the judges who seemed dumbfounded by Gaara's voice. Who that the eyebrow-less awkward and quiet basketball player could actually sing? The girls suddenly had a new light in their eyes.

Sasuke was even more shocked to hear Hinata's voice join the song after Gaara.

" _With no way out and a long way down_

 _Everybody needs someone around_

 _And I can't hold you too close now_

 _Through the wire, through the wire."_

And then they both started singing together shocking everybody with how beautiful they sounded.

" _What a feeling to be right here, besides you now_

 _Holding you in my arms_

 _When the air ran out and we both started running wild_

 _The sky fell down_

 _But you've got stars in your eyes_

 _And I've got something missing tonight_

 _What a feeling to be a king besides you somehow_

 _I wish I could be there now."_

Sasuke got over the initial shock of their voice but he could not get over how emotional the song made him feel. They were both doing an awesome job of showing their emotions. Sasuke could feel the pain in the song as he listened and that was saying something.

Gaara started again.

" _Through the wire, through the wire, through the wire_

 _I'm watching you like this, imagining you're mine_

 _It's too late, it's too late, am I too late?_

 _Tell me now, am I running out of time?"_

Then it was Hinata singing again.

" _With no way out and a long way down_

 _Everybody needs someone around_

 _And I can't hold you too close now_

 _Through the wire, through the wire."_

The chorus was with the both of them singing, the crowd either singing along, in tears or just dumbfounded. The judges were just staring too.

" _What a feeling to be right here, besides you now_

 _Holding you in my arms_

 _When the air ran out and we both started running wild_

 _The sky fell down_

 _But you've got stars in your eyes_

 _And I've got something missing tonight_

 _What a feeling to be a king besides you somehow_

 _I wish I could be there now."_

Sasuke just listened to the song without thinking about anything else. Somehow, he could relate to the pain of being along despite being surrounded by people all his life. And now, as he watched Hinata look at Gaara with such happiness and comfort as he looked at her with adoration in his eyes, he felt left out.

They were singing the chorus for the last time now, and Sasuke almost wished the song would last longer.

" _I wish I could be there now."_

Gaara finished and everyone just started clapping as they stood up, some blinded by tears and the emotions they had just felt.

Hinata and Gaara looked proud and also surprised that they had actually gotten a standing ovation. The judges stood up and clapped too, along with the other contestants. Hinata beamed and looked at Gaara who was already looking at her.

Sasuke understood now. He quietly smiled a sad smile and turned away. For the first time, he was happy for someone else. He was glad he stayed sane long enough to hear her sing after all.

Hinata and Gaara sat side by side in the side rows with everyone else telling them how perfect their song had been. Hinata was surprised to see something other than mere courtesy for Gaara in Sakura's eyes. It was….understanding? And respect. Definitely respect.

"Sabaku-san, that was amazing." She had breathed out, somehow missing Hinata entirely. Gaara looked at her, a little surprised. He did not expect Haruno Sakura to come to him like that.

He nodded as thanks and walked off to sit while Hinata noticed Sakura follow him to his seat with her gaze before she suddenly noticed Hinata. "Hinata…I don't know what to say. You guys were….so amazing."

Hinata had thanked her now she was sitting there. She saw Sasuke on the stage, saying something to Neji who smirked as the last performance ended. It received some feeble applause. The filler music began playing again.

"Sabaku-san…..why didn't you ever sing?" Sakura asked him, still awed.

"I didn't find the right partner." Gaara said, his eyes softening as he took Hinata in, who was looking at the stage towards her cousin and Uchiha.

"You have an amazing voice." Sakura said and smiled genuinely. Gaara nodded again. She looked nice with her smile.

"Little bro, quite a shock you gave us there." Temari said coming towards him with Kankuro. "Tell me about it." Kankuro said.

The judges smiled as they finished compiling their results and handed the final scores over to Neji. He smiled at them and walked back to the podium with the result sheets.

"Everyone." He called their attention and all talking ceased immediately. Hinata had these butterflies in her stomach now and she looked at Neji with nervous anticipation. Neji first announced the winners for the single category.

"The results for the double category are here as well. The third position in the competition has been scored by Sumire and Daichi." There was applause.

"Second place, Kimimaro and Tayuya from classroom 3!" Neji announced with a smirk.

There were cheers along with applause and then Neji started the last announcement. "The first position has been secured by…"

Hinata crossed her fingers. "….Hinata and Gaara from classroom 3."

Everyone cheered and started clapping while Hinata just froze from happiness. It was Gaara who gently took her to the stage and led her. While everyone cheered (Hinata could make out Naruto's 'HINATA CHAN! YOU DID IT'), Hinata just stared.

"We did it." Gaara whispered in her ear.

That snapped her out of her trance as she grinned happily. "We did it!" she jumped and then clung to Gaara, hugging him tightly.

He was stiff before he hugged her back. Everyone cheered even more while some people just froze. Hinata saw Naruto look at her happily before her gaze went to Neji who leaned against the wall with his face in a smug look.

She was about to look away when she saw someone in the shadow of the curtains. That someone was looking at her and Gaara with a frown. Someone with red eyes, patterned like a flower. Nope, definitely did not ring a bell.

Author notes: The song Kimimaro and Tayuya sang is "Half of my heart" by John Mayer. He is an amazing singer and I absolutely love his songs, especially this one.

The other song is "What a feeling" by 1D from their last album "Made in The AM." This song is heartbreakingly amazing. It absolutely pierces through your heart. I suggest listening to it.

Long chapter. I hope you guys like it. This basically concludes the Gaara Arc. The GaaHina friendship and scenes were fun to write but sadly, this is not a GaaHina story.

SasuHina moments were not so much but don't distress, this is all about them. It is better to drag out the development between them as it should appear realistic instead of just happening.

Tell me what you think and comment. It means a lot. The next chapter will begin the Main NaruHina arc and then the new experiences for our heroes. Until next time. Love you guys.

P.s I try to upload weekly. Sorry it I delay one or two days.


	14. Through the wire

Sasuke kicked the stupid ball he had tripped on aside. He cursed and plopped on his bed, feeling really frustrated. This was so tiring. Who the fuck had decided it was a good idea to place him in the student council anyways? And as the vice president too.

The answer was, his fan girls of course. He was just way too popular. He had gotten votes equal to Neji Hyuga, the president but the administration had made Neji president as he was older. Good thing too, Sasuke decided.

Now there was this shit going on about that useless singing competition. What. The. Fuck?

So basically, the three absolutely shitty music classes would contribute two pairs of singers each for the competition and anyone outside of those music classes could also sign up.

Why was this competition taking place again when Sasuke had voted against managing it? The answer was again, his fellow counselors were idiots. Who even needed the dumb competition?

Now he had to work with Neji, Sakura and Ino to collect the funds and decorate and manage that damn thing which was almost one and a half week later. Like it was Wednesday now and the competition would be on the Monday after the upcoming one.

He sighed. Thank god Ino and Sakura very efficient and worked well together. They had assured Neji and him that they did not need to work on much because they would handle it. That was a relief.

Who was participating in the competition anyway? He sighed. Hinata would be, duh. Neji had told him Hinata was working very hard on her song with Gaara.

Gaara. What was she doing hanging out with him anyway? And why wasn't Naruto objecting to it? Who knew what the red headed guy could do? Sure, he thought Gaara was chill but Naruto could keep a better watch on his girlfriend.

Not that he cared.

He was sick of girls anyway. He was just surprised when she had shown up walking with Gaara into the gym. He had not shown it of course but he had been surprised and a bit freaked out too. The hell was the world coming to? And Gaara actually answered her.

He turned over in his bed. He didn't really care. He wasn't even talking to her since that day at his house. She had left him confused and he did not appreciate it. Did she think she was clever? Not really.

He was just talking to her because of the damn project ad even that had been ceased for some time because she was busy.

He turned on the television. Sherlock Holmes. Kami, Americans were so annoying sometimes but he liked their shows nonetheless. Especially the wrestling. He knew it was fake but still…

He turned to his phone which was ringing. He looked at the caller Id. It was Naruto. he picked it up. "Yo Teme!"

"what?" Sasuke asked, sighing to himself slightly.

"Ya wanna hang out today? Us guys are going bowling again." Naruto asked him in his usual cheery voice.

"Are you sure? Every time you tell me that you bring along a few girls." Sasuke reminded him. Naruto's voice was sheepish through the phone.

"That's the only way you come. You caught me though, I was asking Hinata to come."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. If she was going to be there, he was not going. He did not want to associate himself anywhere near her at the moment. He would continue ignoring her.

"No. I'm not coming." Sasuke said, un-muting the television.

"Aw come on, it's going to be fun." Naruto tried again.

"No." Sasuke said and ended the call. He tossed it aside and started watching the television, thinking of other things on the back of his mind.

"He's not coming." Naruto said as he clicked off the phone, a bit deflated.

"WHY?!" Ino and Sakura asked in despair. They had both come to the stupid bowling alley for the dark haired boy. Naruto shrugged.

"Come on guys, it's still going to be fun." Hinata said, smiling warmly at them all. Naruto smiled back. "You're right. And I wanna beat you in bowling today." He teased.

"Yeah right." She said, smiling evilly.

"Naruto, you can't possible defeat Hinata. She's so good." Ino said, smirking.

"Blondie, stop talking into my business." Naruto waved her off. She frowned but he didn't pay any attention. "Let's make teams of 2." He announced.

"I want Gaara!" Hinata said, surprising Gaara, who was standing awkwardly in a corner by grabbing his arm. Naruto pouted which Hinata found adorable.

"But I wanted to be your partner Hina." He said, like a child.

"Naruto, you can't beat me if you're my partner." She reminded him with a giggle. He was so dense. "Fine. Ino, you up for it?" he asked her.

"Whatever." She said, coming up by his side. Sakura and Shikamaru formed teams and they all started. Gaara gazed at Hinata while she bowled. He noticed how her hair waved. He noticed her jump in joy when she got a perfect score (again. Gaara knew they were so winning). He watched as her face lit up and she looked at him with joy.

He had been honestly surprised when she refused to back away. She was one of those people, just like Naruto. He'd refused to leave Gaara alone until Gaara had fought him. Naruto had fought back and after that, somehow, they had become close friends.

Naruto did that to you. He was just that charismatic. A bit idiotic, yeah, but inspirational. Hinata was the first girl who'd willingly approached him aside from Temari. She was not annoying or clingy and she did not want to pry into you. She just let you breath in peace while being with you.

"Gaara! We won!" she yelled with happiness as they won. She grabbed his arms and shook them. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her with a blank expression which slowly turned into a slight smile. Just one slight tilt of his lip and then he looked away.

"Did you see that? HE JUST SMILED!" Ino yelled.

"Shut up Ino-pig, you're making a scene." Sakura said, even though she was just as surprised. Naruto was not. He just smiled. So that meant Gaara trusted Hinata.

"Man, we lost. And it's your entire fault Ino." Naruto complained. Ino turned to him, her expression stormy.

"My fault? You didn't even know how to play properly!" she accused.

"Keep telling yourself that." Naruto rolled his eyes. It was true. While Hinata and Gaara had won, Shikamaru's strategy and genius mind along with Sakura's strength had made them come second.

Naruto looked at Hinata who smirked. "You sure kicked my ass, huh Naruto?" she asked, raising her brow and laughing happily. He grabbed her shoulders and ruffled her hair. "Don't get too cocky. I let you win."

"Yeah right." She said, pushing his hand away. Naruto grinned and hugged her from behind, making everyone give them suggestive looks while Hinata flushed and smiled.

"Let's get food." Naruto said, swinging Hinata around being taller and heavier than her lithe figure.

"Put me down!" she said, trying to sound angry as she struggled not to laugh. "I will." He told her as he swung her around again.

Everyone in the bowling alley was smiling or just staring at them. Their friends pretended like they didn't know them. "Naruto, can we go? I'm really, really hungry." Sakura said, looking at the clock.

"Alright. But Hinata sits with me instead of Gaara this time." He said. Hinata looked at Gaara who didn't have a particular problem with that.

"Okay." she said as Naruto took her arm and almost dragged her to the parking lot.

It had been 9 days since the bowling alley hangout with her friends and now Hinata was really busy. He had completed the assignments (excluding the one with Sasuke. She did not even want to think about it right now.)

Her top priority now was her song. She had practiced with Gaara yesterday but they had decided to meet up and practice again because tomorrow was Sunday and Monday was the day of the competition. Gaara and her song was finalized and ready. Tayuya and Kimimaro had also finalized theirs.

The song Hinata and Gaara were performing was a mixture of both their lyrics and it had come out very nicely in the end.

She checked her phone. No new texts. She started composing one. To: Gaara (yeah, they kind of exchanged numbers)

 _What time are we meeting up?_

She put down her phone and went to comb her hair, which was sprawled all over her shoulders and neck. When she came back, she had a text from Gaara.

 _See you at 4 p.m. My place._

She was surprised that Gaara would actually invite her (sort of) to his house. But there was a slight problem.

 _Sure. But I don't know where you live._

There was a minute before she received a reply. She opened the text icon hurriedly.

 _The sand complex in downtown Konoha. You can drive?_

She smiled. He didn't have to worry while she had Neji. But she still thought it was sweet.

 _No. But I'll see you then. I'll manage._

She did not receive another text from him again. She glanced at the clock. It was still 11 a.m. she could watch a movie as she had completed all her homework already. Or…she could also ask Sasuke if he was going to work on their project.

She rejected the thought as soon as she thought of it. He was such a jerk. And he had seemed a bit nice to her for a while. But hey, jerks remain jerks.

Why did he keep bringing up the engagement? Was she that bad that he was so revolted by their engagement? Why couldn't he just give it a rest? Did she deserve that?

They had not talked since that day at his house and she intended to let the silence remain until he said something first.

However, ignoring each other was a bit awkward when they were in the same classes (almost) and also partners in some classes. She sighed. Why did life have to be so complicated?

She decided to log into face book. She had 30 new friend requests and 15 chat requests. She groaned. Why? Now she would have to sort through everything again. This is why she hated facebook. No privacy at all.

She opened the friend requests icon. There were boys from her school (whom she did not even know) and boys from other schools who had seen her at the game. No girls at all. The bottom most friend request surprised her.

Uchiha Sasuke. Since she had opened her facebook after such a long time, she assumed he had sent it while they had been on speaking terms. She ignored it.

She opened the chats. The top most message was from Ken. 'Are you dead?'

She smiled. That was just like him. But then again, she had not talked to him in a while. "Nope. Still here. Alive and well. What about you? How's school? How's Jody? Are you guys going okay? Everything's good here. Hope to talk to you soon."

Ken was not online. Their time zone difference was just too much. She smiled sadly. She missed Ken. His quick quirks, his bright eyes, his mischievous smile, his kind words and handsome features. And his support. He was her best friend.

To be honest, Naruto reminded her just a slight bit of Ken, as he was so alive and bright too. She decided to watch a movie after all, facebook was not helping.

"I'll pick you up at 7." Neji instructed as she got out of the car in front of the Sand complex. It was huge. And beautiful. It reminded her of a desert. Alone, peaceful and silent. She nodded and Neji drove away.

She walked to the gates and pushed them open. She walked to the veranda out of the door. She knocked on the door. There was a shuffling sound and someone yanked the door open.

"Hinata?" it was Kankuro, who seemed surprised to see her. She didn't recognize him without the weird face paint thing. He was actually pretty cute when he was dressed casually for home.

"Hey Kankuro." Hinata smiled, clutching her notebook tightly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking pretty confused as to why someone like her would visit? Well…she was friends with his weird sister.

"Oh um..Gaara invited me to work on the project with him at home." Hinata explained, shifting from one foot to the other.

Kankuro's face went blank. He went quiet and just looked at Hinata for a few minutes until it got awkward. "You…you're telling me Gaara invited you home?"

She nodded. "Is someth…."

"GAARA INVITED YOU OVER!" Kankuro shouted, excited and now teasing. She raised her eyebrows.

"Well come on in. Man, he's going soft. Are you two dating already?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"Aw man. Wait…you're not dating someone already, are you?" he asked.

"I'm dating Naruto." she informed him. his face fell.

"Dammit. But that's okay. There's always the chance of a breakup." His eyes gleamed determinedly.

"Uh…how about no?" Hinata suggested, looking around for Temari.

"Why not?" he asked, doing the puppy eye thing which Hinata had learned not to fall for long ago because of Hanabi.

"Because I like Naruto." she informed him "Where's Temari?"

"She's gone out. I'll call Gaara." Kankuro said before walking to the stairs and shouting "GAARA YOUR GIRL FRIEND IS HERE!"

Hinata slapped her forehead, feeling second hand embarrassment. Gaara appeared on the stairs, his hair messy and wearing a brown shirt over blue jeans.

"Hinata, welcome." He said, walking down to her.

"Heh, Gaara, why didn't you tell me you guys were together?"

"Because we are not." He said coolly.

"Eh, so she wasn't lying?" Kankuro asked himself. Gaara sighed.

"We'll be in my room, practicing." Gaara informed him. Kankuro wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Gaara shook his head.

"And then you say you're not together." Kankuro walked away, smiling mischievously.

Gaara turned to her now. "Sorry for that. He's a bit…eccentric."

"Its okay." she said, thinking of her own younger sister. "My sister is like that."

"My sympathy." He said, making her turn to him, because he had just said that. He was also smiling slightly again. And he looked beautiful. More like handsome but...

"Let's go to my room." He took her hand and led her there. She followed him quietly.

They entered his room, which was huge…

There was a corner with drums, a guitar and a few other instruments. The room itself was painted blue and grey, like a stormy sea. She felt like she was in the middle of the ocean, a stormy ocean at that.

The bed was also huge and it was touching the back wall of the room with a red and black bedspread. There was a bookshelf, a closet, a television, knives and a dart board (Hinata's eyes widened), a laptop and to her surprise a huge stuffed toy. It looked like a big creature….made of sand? With a golden gleaming eye and a tail at the back.

"Is that….?" She asked, pointing at the toy.

"He's Shukaku." Gaara said.

"Shukaku? When did you get him?" she asked, walking over to touch it. Gaara sighed.

"Naruto and I went to another city for a basketball match with the team. There was this shop which sold these stuffed toys. He bought a stupid nine tailed fox called Kurama and made me buy Shukaku, the one tailed sandman because it was cute."

Hinata smiled. It was cute…in a way. "It is cute." She told him.

"Whatever." He said, though Hinata could tell it was in a fond way.

"Your room is pretty big…and nice." She told him. He nodded at her. "You're actually the first female I've let into my room since my mother."

"I'm honored. Where's your mother though?" she asked.

She immediately regretted it as Gaara's face hardened and he looked away, clenching his fists. "I'm sorry for asking. It must be a personal topic." She said, quietly.

Gaara took a deep breath. "No. I want to talk about it."

Hinata nodded. She sat on his bed, patting the spot next to her. He sat there and bowed his head. There was silence for a few minutes before starting to talk.

"She was a wonderful woman. I loved her. She…she made my life worth living. My siblings were not close to me and my father hated me. She was the only bright light in my life."

Hinata waited for him to continue. "My father….saw me as the potential successor even though there were Temari and Kankuro. He…wanted me to be ready for his position ever since I was a kid."

"He had me sent away for some stupid training for years. My mother was sad and she cried but he didn't listen to her. Then…she was sick and they didn't tell me. They…they only told me when her funeral was being held, 3 years ago."

His voice was thick and she knew he was crying. Her own eyes were tearing up. "Gaara…"

"And it was so stupid. She called for me but I wasn't even there when she was dying. I WASN'T THERE. THEY DIDN'T TELL ME AND HE SENT ME AWAY."

He yelled and looked up at the ceiling. His eyes were full of tears and Hinata could see the hurt and pain in his eyes. "And I regret not being there so much. I hate my father for it. I even hated Temari and Kankuro until I realized they were just trying to protect me from my father all along."

He sobbed slightly and Hinata felt tears leave her eyes. "Gaara, it wasn't your fault." She told him.

He shook his head, his body racking with slight sobs. Hinata willed herself to shut up before moving to him and putting her arms around her. He stiffened slightly in her hold but eventually he put his own arms around her and put his head on her shoulder, still crying.

"Is that why you isolated yourself?" she asked and referred indirectly to what Temari had told her. He nodded into her shoulder.

"You haven't let it out until now, have you?" she asked pain evident in her own voice. Her heart hurt for this boy in front of her. The boy who was young and was carrying such a huge burden which wasn't even his fault.

"I didn't trust anyone enough." He muffled, his sobs subsiding now.

"Gaara…." She said, rubbing his back "Just let it out. It's okay. It's not your fault. She loved you and she knew it too that it was not your fault."

"How do you know?" he asked her, pulling away to look at her face, his eyes curious and wanting to believe her.

"Because mothers are like that. They'll love you no matter what. I'm sure she did too. She didn't think it was your fault."

Gaara buried his face in her shoulder again and just stayed there, contented. This girl was amazing. He had not intended for this to happen but now that it had, he felt so light, so happy. Than he had ever felt in his life.

He didn't know how they had reached this topic or why he didn't kick her out of his room when she asked about his mother or why he had opened up. He just knew he trusted her.

"Hinata…"

"Hm?" she asked, still rubbing his back and the other arm around his frame.

"Thank you."


End file.
